Whilst the January transfer window provided big business in Serie A and the Premier League, La Liga clubs opted to save their pocket money for the usual summertime antics.
When Oliver Bierhoff hit the headlines earlier this week, following his condemnation of the state of Italian football in comparison to the Bundesliga, in truth, few offered much in the way of a rebuttal.
Goals galore in Holland, as the ball found the back of the net a massive 36 times across the weekend's eight games whilst the top two struggled. The chasing pack showed that the pursuit for the title is definitely not a two horse race quite yet.
Bottom club Walsall smashed Bristol Rovers for six as they closed the gap between themselves and the visitors to four points. With their first win at home since November, Andy Butler grabbed a brace, while Matthew Gill, Julian Gray, Matt Richards and Alex Nicholls got a goal apiece in the 6-1 rout.
The Eredivisie is back! And judging by this past weekend (with all eighteen of the league's sides in action) the second half of the season is looking like it's going to be just as action-packed and exciting as the first.