It’s only days before the Champions League returns for half the teams involved, and all of the teams involved in the Europa League.European competition has always been about form. The best teams in the world have come unstuck just because they’ve suffered a blip at exactly the wrong moment. Just look at Barcelona last season, whose only dip in form on the way to a domestic double was right at the Champions League quarter final stage when they faced Atletico Madrid.If it’s all about form, then the place to start is France.

France

And Pep Guardiola must have been looking on nervously.

Manchester City don’t play until Monday evening in the Premier League, and that will have given the Blues boss ample time to check out Monaco on Saturday evening, though he won’t have liked what he saw. Monaco tore Metz apart for the second time this season, with a hat-trick from emerging star Kylian M’Bappé and two goals from Radamel Falcao.

Leonardo Jardim’s side gave Metz a 5-0 thumping to add to the 7-0 thumping they were given on October 1. Monaco scored four goals in the last 20 minutes in October, before scoring another three goals in the first 20 minutes, an aggregate scoreline of 7-0 in 40 minutes of football. More than that, but Monaco are still averaging three goals per game in Ligue 1, having scored 75 goals in their 25 outings.

Away from Monaco, though, and the other big performers this weekend may have the other half of Manchester worried: St Etienne followed up their stunning victory over local rivals last weekend with a defeat to Nice in midweek, but they returned to form this weekend with a 4-0 thrashing of bottom club Lorient.

Christophe Galtier’s side are known for their defensive solidity and organisation, and indeed, only PSG have conceded fewer goals in Ligue 1 this season (18 to ASSE’s 19). But what might be more concerning for Jose Mourinho is that, although St Etienne were always going to be hard to break down, they seem to have added a goalscoring streak to their side and are now just one point behind Lyon.

Elsewhere, Nice were the big losers at the top of the table. Their 2-2 draw away to Rennes was credible enough given they found themselves 2-0 down, but the two dropped points see them slip to third, five points behind Monaco at the top of the table. Still, a Champions League place would be a wonderful result for Nice, and they still currently sit 13 points ahead of fourth placed Lyon.

PSG’s Friday night win over Bordeaux briefly put some pressure on Monaco at the top of the table, but they remain three points behind the leaders.

Germany

At least one team at the top of the German Bundesliga had a decent week.

Bayern Munich may have left it obscenely late to record a 2-0 win over Ingolstadt of the relegation places, but that victory was the only victory for a club in the top seven. Better late than never, then. It puts Bayern seven points ahead of the chasing pack – if we can call it that now – and surely means Carlo Ancelotti’s side can concentrate solely on dispatching of Arsenal and progressing in the Champions League.

RB Leipzig’s defeat, however, wasn’t too damaging if you don’t think about the title race. Anything beyond just qualifying for the Champions League this season was surely just a pipe dream, and with defeats for the teams directly below them, they have a cushy eight point gap between them and the Europa League places.

There is no such gap for Borussia Dortmund, however, as they slumped to a harrowing defeat to bottom-of-the-table Darmstadt, leaving them in the fourth and final Champions League place on goal difference only. Gone are title dreams – though they may have went some time ago – and hopes of clinging on to fourth place have taken their place instead.

Italy

All hail the new Champions, same as the old Champions?

That’s how it feels in Italy, and that’s how it has felt for quite some time in Serie A.

After a 2-0 win over Cagliari on Sunday night, Juventus were able to keep the rest of the pack at arm’s length and maintain their seven point lead at the top of the table. The fact that both goals came from Gonzalo Higuain highlight the problem for the rest of the league, though: not only are Juve better than the rest, but they’ve bought the league’s best players, too!

And yet Roma, Napoli Inter Milan and Atalanta – who all occupy the places directly below Juve – all won their games this weekend.

It doesn’t seem to matter how good the rest are, they’re not as good as Juventus who – although they’ve lost four times – are yet to draw a league game all season.

Elsewhere, and Serie A is starting to look like a fairly dead division: Juventus are seven points clear at the top, Napoli and Roma are at least six points ahead of Inter outside the Champions League places, and the bottom three are so far adrift that fourth bottom Empoli almost look safe already.

The only real interest left, it seems, is the minor European placings: AC Milan look to return to Europe and play Lazio on Monday evening. But at the moment, there’s not a lot of intrigue left in Serie A.

Spain

In midweek, Alaves made history by reaching the Copa del Rey final for the very first time after victory over Celta Vigo in the semi final. In the league, too, the newly-promoted club sit comfortably in midtable, seeming safe from relegation and looking forward to another season in La Liga.

This weekend, though, they were looking to do the double over Barcelona after their victory at Camp Nou early in the season, but if this season seemed like a dream, it was back to Earth with a bump: you don’t just get promoted and beat Barcelona twice. Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar all got on the scoresheet in a 6-0 win.

That laid down the gauntlet for leaders Real Madrid, but they followed it functionally with a 3-1 win over Osasuna: Madrid’s own superstar put his name on the scoresheet, too, as Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring for the European champions. Even if they’re not playing well, Madrid are still marching on.

Madrid stay one point above Barcelona, yet their two games in hand over the Catalans mean that they are the team to beat this season. It’s Madrid’s to lose, but things can change quickly.

Last season, Barcelona’s huge lead was cut to a single point in the final few weeks of the season, bringing a dead title race back to life. This season, Sevilla looked like they would be the team best placed to challenge the El Clasico giants and race for the title on behalf of the little guys. But although they won this weekend away to Las Palmas, they are now three points back, and only four points ahead of Atletico Madrid, who looked to be fighting only for the final Champions League spot.

Atleti themselves left it late to beat Celta Vigo this weekend. A sensational goal from Fernando Torres equalised for Diego Simeone’s side, but with the game at 2-2 in the 88th minute, it was down to Antoine Griezmann to show just why he’s Atletico’s talisman and possibly worth a world record fee to any potential suitor. He came up with the goods when needed in a weekend where Messi, Suarez, Neymar and Ronaldo all scored. Griezmann is up there with the best of them.