Postpublished at 20:24

20:24

Napoli 1-0 Juventus

A bit of claret is streaming from Giorgio Chiellini's face after some more combative defending from the Juve man. A quick wet of the magic sponge, a clean shirt and he is ready to roll again.

Another chance for Napoli, who would be delighted with a 2-0 half-time lead over the champions. Jose Callejon appears at the far post to meet Lorenzo Insigne's floated diagonal ball with his head. But Juve stalwart Giorgio Chiellini sticks his sizeable conk in the way to block.

Image source, EPA

Still all Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo. Great energy to this match. Who said Serie A was boring these days? The home side are not allowing the champions any time on the ball.

Image source, AP

Villarreal good value for their lead, and their dominance is reflected in the first-half possession stats: 66 per cent to Atletico's 34 per cent.

Unbeaten Villarreal going top as it stands. Three important little words there.

Close - Samu Castillejo sends a diving header inches wide for Villarreal as they press for a second.

Still an almighty din in Naples as the home team look to take advantage of any supposed vulnerability that plagues Juventus nowadays. The visitors are gradually finding some rhythm, but neither side has created a golden chance since Simone Zaza's effort  earlier.

A promising Villarreal attack breaks down as Roberto Soldado is flagged offside. Now where have Spurs fans heard that before?

Juventus's firepower has been decimated by injuries to Spain striker Alvaro Morata and Croatia forward Mario Mandzukic, meaning their goalscoring burden has fallen on the shoulders of Simone Zaza. The Italy international has an early sighter on goal, drilling a low shot into the hands of Napoli keeper Pepe Reina.

Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain is a striker who is on a hot streak. The Argentina international has bagged four goals in his last five matches and has an early sight of goal here. But he leans back too much and clears the crossbar from 15 yards.

The noise inside the San Paolo stadium is crazy. These Napoli fans are pumped. So too are their players, who have forced Juve keeper Gianluigi Buffon into some early action after a good tempo start.

Across the Mediterranean Sea is another important match. Over in Serie A, Napoli - who have finished each of the last two seasons in the top five - are hosting struggling champions Juventus.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani and Angel Di Maria all scored as French champions Paris St-Germain came from behind to beat Nantes and maintain their unbeaten start. 

Robert Lewandowski's memorable week continued as the Bayern Munich striker reached 100 Bundesliga goals quicker than any other foreign player.

The Poland captain, 27, scored five goals in nine minutes in the midweek win against Wolfsburg and netted twice more against Mainz as title holders Bayern extended their 100% start to seven games.

Summer signing Kingsley Coman added the other in a 3-0 win.

Two other teams who will be buoyed by Real Madrid's surprise draw (and possibly Messi's injury) are Villarreal and Atletico Madrid. It is fourth versus fifth at El Madrigal, with the winner climbing above Barca into top spot. They've just kicked off on the east coast of Spain.

Of course it goes without saying that Messi's absence will be leave a huge hole in Barcelona's attacking armoury. But they do have Neymar and Luis Suarez so let's not feel too sorry for them.

Journalist Ernest Macia from Radio Catalunya was at the Nou Camp today and has been telling BBC World Service that it is Messi's "most important injury in seven or eight years".

He adds: "Barcelona must play many of their rivals at the start of the season so he is a big loss but normally Barcelona need him most when it comes to March or April. Now young players need to come up and come into the team."