Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has extended his remarkable goalscoring form -- and Jean Louis Gasset's unlikely renaissance -- at Marseille, while Nigerians Nathan Tella, Alex Iwobi and Michael Folorunsho produced star performances across Europe.
Auba demonstrated the sharpness and poaching instinct that have set him apart among the finest African goalscorers of his generation, scoring twice for OM against Nantes at Stade Velodrome; the brace took his tally for the season to 22 goals across Ligue 1 and continental competition.
Eight of those goals have come in Gasset's five matches since taking the reins in Provence after his dismissal from AFCON hosts Ivory Coast during the course of the Nations Cup.
It's an astonishing turnaround for the head coach, who has now overseen Aubameyang's best goalscoring run since Sept. 2019.
"He's the goalscorer, he is the player in the team," Gasset said on Amazon Prime after the match. "In every team, there's a player who makes the difference, in any team in the world.
"We need to protect him, and get him in the best place so that he can keep his energy in order to make the difference later."
Aubameyang became the top scorer in UEFA Europa League history when he was on target against Villarreal earlier in the week -- taking his tally to 33 goals in the competition, surpassing Radamel Falcao -- and he can now realistically target Didier Drogba's Marseille record of 32 goals in a single league season.
"I knew about him," Gasset said. "I spoke to friends who had coached him, and I knew where he loved to play, where he likes to start from, and I took it from there.
"We're building the team around him."
In Germany, Tella continued his successful season for Bundesliga title-chasing Leverkusen.
Tella was given his Nigeria debut by Jose Peseiro in November, but was a surprise omission from the Super Eagles' Africa Cup of Nations squad.
Peseiro had no shortage of attacking depth at his disposal before setting off for Ivory Coast, with few national teams in the world able to call upon as many offensive threats as the Super Eagles, but Tella's omission, two months after his international bow, was a setback for the 24-year-old.
He has nevertheless continued to make his mark, memorably netting twice in the 2-0 away victory at SV Darmstadt 98 in February before registering an assist as title rivals Bayern Munich were dispatched 3-0, and now he has returned to the international fold after being named for the coming AFCON qualifiers after Peseiro's departure.
He celebrated his call-up when he opened the scoring against 10-men Wolfsburg in the 37th minute, in most unlikely fashion. In truth, the goal, his first since that Darmstadt double, was all about the magical assist from Alejandro Grimaldo, who evaded his marker with a deft feint in the penalty box before crossing for Tella; the wideman doesn't typically pose a major threat in the air -- he is just 173 cm tall -- but made no mistake with a well-placed header.
"I don't think people thought I could score a headed goal because of my height as I went to the far post," Tella told the club's official site. "It was a mature performance from us overall."
Tella's relationship with left-back Grimaldo could represent a blueprint for the Super Eagles, who have their own talented attacking options at full-back.
"I have to thank Grimaldo for the great cross," Tella said. "Out of my five goals in the league, he's assisted four. I always go to celebrate with him because I'm happy to play with him.
"He gets me a lot of goals and opportunities, and we spoke before the game. I said if I scored I'd go to him. It was nice to celebrate, but more importantly, it was good to get the win for the team."
Four of Tella's five goals this season have come since the turn of the year, and he is clearly finding form just in time to make an impact for club and country.
Iwobi will be waiting for Tella when Nigeria reunite in less than a fortnight.
Fulham lost to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the English Premier League, but Iwobi was an immense creative threat and the visitors will surely feel they deserved more from the contest.
The Cottagers took 23 shots (15 more than Wolves), with Iwobi creating a remarkable seven goalscoring opportunities, all from open play.
This is the more than any other player has managed in the league this term, but Iwobi could only watch aghast as Rodrigo Muniz, Harry Wilson and Adama Traoré spawned Fulham's best chances.
Tosin Adarabioyo hit the woodwork during the first half of Fulham's Molineux onslaught, before Algeria's Rayan Aït-Nouri opened the scoring after the break, and it was left to Iwobi himself, with almost the last kick of the game, to get Fulham on the board.
In Italy, Hellas Verona find themselves in a relegation dogfight but they have some breathing space after Folorunsho, on loan from Victor Osimhen's Napoli, scored from range to secure three points against fellow strugglers Lecce.
Verona snapped a six-game winless streak by defeating Sassuolo last weekend, and now they have secured consecutive victories for the first time since the opening weeks of the season.
Folorunsho isn't a prolific scorer -- this was only his fourth goal of the season -- but he's developing something of a reputation as a master of long-range shooting. This was his third goal scored from outside the box in 2024; no player across Europe's big five leagues has scored more from distance since New Year.
Also in Italy, Internazionale extended their winning run to 13 matches in all competitions as they tightened their grip on top spot with a 1-0 victory at Bologna.
The Nerazzurri were far from their best against gritty opponents, and they had Germanys-born Cameroonian Yann Bisseck to thank for keeping their run alive.
The 23-year-old hasn't enjoyed the easiest season after arriving from AGF in a €7 million deal in July, making just six league starts amid intense competition at the back.
However, he's being noted increasingly as a player to watch after a series of strong displays, looking comfortable in Inter's back three, scoring against Lecce in December, and now claiming his first match winner.
"Sometimes, it can happen that you don't get opportunities to play, but tonight I [scored] one, and I think I took it very well," Bisseck said.
"We played our game, and we deservedly won."