La Liga is up and running folks and what a weekend we’ve just had! Barca opened their account with a thumping victory over Villarreal while both Real and Atletico Madrid also had impressive wins.
The Madrid clubs both have their heroes; Real’s Sergio Ramos has been at the Bernabeu forever and he scored a late winner, while Luis Suarez has been at Atleti for five minutes and he made an unbelievable start.
Meanwhile, Ivan Rakitic marked his league return to Sevilla with a goal as Los Sevillanos started with a victory over new boys Cadiz.
Real Betis 2-3 Real Madrid
Atletico Madrid 6-1 Granada
Barcelona 4-0 Villarreal
Cadiz 1-3 Sevilla
The La Liga 2020 highlights from this weekend are well worth a watch and these are the takeaways…
Barcelona mean business
For sure, Koeman’s Barcelona is still taking shape, and here at SBOTOP, we have the Blaugrana marginally behind Los Blancos in the race for the title. But the way Leo Messi and co blew Villarreal away in the first half of tonight’s clash at the Camp Nou will have given the Madrid teams plenty to think about.
Young star Ansu Fati scored twice and Messi added a penalty before Pau Torres scored an own goal as Barca raced into a 4-0 lead at the break. Messi came close twice in the second half and after a summer of speculation surrounding a possible move to Manchester City, the Argentine looked as focussed as ever. He’s a Barca legend and there may be another on the way in Fati; while the return of Philippe Coutinho alongside Antoine Griezmann means Barca have plenty of firepowers.
The Blaugrana means business.
Ramos is still the man for Los Blancos
While many a Galactico has arrived through the doors of the Santiago Bernabeu and exited a few seasons later, Sergio Ramos has been the man to turn to during 15 record-breaking seasons in which he has picked up 22 major honours. He scored a number of critical penalties in Los Blancos’ title run-in the last term and he was at it again on Saturday.
Real Madrid had a big test in Andalusia on Saturday and they passed it thanks to a late spot-kick converted by Ramos. Federico Valverde gave Los Blancos an early lead but Manuel Pellegrini’s in-form Betis hit back through Aissa Mandi and William Carvalho, but Emerson’s own goal let the reigning champions back into the game and teed up Ramos’ fine finish.
Suarez can make Atleti serious challengers
When did we last see Atletico Madrid score six? Diego Simeone’s team has had the best defence in European football for years but things are changing at the Wanda Metropolitano. The signing of Luis Suarez has given Los Rojiblancos a mean look about their attack, with bad boy Diego Costa welcoming the Uruguayan to the club. And in today’s match against Granada, Costa made way for his new colleague on 70 minutes. Within two Suarez set up Marcos Llorente for a goal, and in the remaining 20, he helped himself to two goals and hit the post as Atleti ran out 6-1 winners against a side which won its first two games of the season.
The early La Liga 2020 betting odds have Atletico Madrid at around 9.00 to lift the title…might be worth a look!
Luis Suarez in action for Atletico Madrid against Granada
Sevilla in very good shape
Sevilla headed to Cadiz on the back of a 120 minute UEFA Super Cup clash with FC Bayern, in which they pushed the rampant Bundesliga champions to the limit after Lucas Ocampos had given Los Sevillanos an early lead. And they recovered well this weekend to pick up three points in their La Liga opener.
After the hosts took an early second-half lead Seville fought back and goals from Luuk de Jong and Munir El Haddadi gave them a lead before Rakitic scored his injury-time goal.
So friends, the La Liga season has started with a bang, and the games keep on coming thick and fast. There’s a full midweek fixture list and then a big match at the Camp Nou next Sunday when Barcelona hosts Sevilla.
Keep a lookout for the pre-match tips and updates, right here at SBOTOP.
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The post La Liga: Barca Bash Villarreal, Suarez Stars for Atleti and Ramos Saves Real Again appeared first on SBOTOP.