It was clear who the winners and losers were in La Liga this weekend. Of the seven matches played, only one ended in a draw.
But despite picking up a point away to Real Sociedad, defending champions Real Madrid should be considered losers as their attack — or lack thereof — once again looked concerning.
Meanwhile, newly promoted Cadiz should be considered the biggest winners after they scored a big away win over fellow new boys Huesca.
Read on below as SBOTOP lists down the notable winners and losers in the latest round of La Liga fixtures.
Winner: Cadiz
After waiting 14 years to return to La Liga, Cadiz didn’t have to wait too long to claim their first win of the season as they beat fellow newly-promoted side Huesca 2-0 away.
Veteran striker Alvaro Negredo sent the Yellow Submarine on their way with a poacher’s goal in the 10th minute. It was his first goal in La Liga since 2017.
Survival is clearly the main goal for Cadiz this season and they will need every point they can get. They still have a long way to go to achieve that goal, but this win was a good start.
Loser: Huesca
On the other side, though, Huesca should feel massively disappointed that they lost to a fellow promoted side, at home no less. They were the only home side in La Liga to lose this weekend.
It was a horrible showing by Huesca, who failed to even get a shot on target against Cadiz despite controlling 71 per cent of possession.
If they played so poorly at home against a team that is of comparable ability, it doesn’t bode well for their chances of surviving relegation. They won’t have too many opportunities to pick up all three points this season; this was one of them, and they wasted it.
Winner: Iago Aspas
Iago Aspas just continues to score goals for Celta Vigo. The 33-year-old opened his account for the season with two brilliantly taken goals to lead Celta to a 2-1 win over Valencia. His second goal was an inch-perfect free-kick, which sealed the victory for the home side.
Aspas has been among the most consistent strikers in La Liga since returning to Celta in 2015. He’s scored 91 goals in 167 La Liga appearances over the last six seasons, which is an outstanding return.
Celta just avoided the drop last season, and Aspas will be crucial in their chances of staying up once again this year.
Loser: Real Madrid
Real Madrid began the defence of their La Liga title with a somewhat disappointing goalless draw away to Real Sociedad.
Granted, going to the Anoeta was a tough opening assignment for the champions. But Sociedad were still not quite at full strength after their recent COVID-19 concerns. Moreover, Real completely dominated play; they had 16 shots to La Real’s six but only four were on target.
Despite reclaiming the league last season, Real were far from amazing in attack. They relied too heavily on striker Karim Benzema, who is now 32 years of age, and centre-back Sergio Ramos for their goals.
And after failing to bring in any attackers this summer apart from Martin Odegaard — and finally getting rid of Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez — this draw against Sociedad could be a sign that Real may once again struggle to score.
Winner: Unai Emery and Manuel Pellegrini
Real Betis manager Manuel Pellegrini continues to impress with a two-game winning streak
High-profile managers Unai Emery and Manuel Pellegrini are off to good starts with their new La Liga clubs.
After getting held to a draw at home to Huesca in their opening match, Unai Emery got his first victory in charge of Villarreal after a 2-1 home win over Eibar. Meanwhile, Pellegrini has made it two wins out of two as Real Betis beat Valladolid 2-0 to go joint-top of La Liga after two rounds.
Betis conceded the second-most goals in La Liga last season (60), so it’s promising to see them keep back-to-back clean sheets in their first two games under Pellegrini.
The level of competition is set to jump for both new managers next week as Emery’s Villarreal take on Barcelona while Pellegrini’s Betis host Real Madrid.
But with both teams playing well under their new managers, don’t be too surprised if one or both end up defying the La Liga 2020 betting odds against the Big Two.
Loser: Alaves
While Villarreal and Betis are doing well in their new managers, it’s been quite the opposite for Alaves and Pablo Machin.
Alaves are the first club to lose two games after they fell 2-1 to Granada. Machin has thus far been unable to fix their disastrous run of La Liga 2020 results as they have now lost nine of their last 11 league matches.
Alaves almost got into some big-time relegation trouble because of that dramatic dip in form after the restart. But if Machin can’t turn things around soon, Alaves could be facing serious danger of the drop this time around.
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The post La Liga: Cadiz Big Winners, Rusty Real Lose Two Points appeared first on SBOTOP.