After the first round of the new season wrapped up with three back-to-back games in Spain’s top flight on Monday night lets look back at who fared well, who didn’t, and which players impressed.
By Ben Hayward, LaLiga expert
Barcelona draw a blank
Barcelona failed to score at home four times in LaLiga last season – all under Xavi Hernández – but following the arrival of forwards Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha in the summer, fans will have been expecting goals in the Catalans’ opener against Rayo Vallecano at Camp Nou on Saturday. The Polish striker did have the ball in the back of the net early on, only to see his effort ruled out for offside. Another new signing, Franck Kessié, also saw his celebrations cut short by the assistant’s flag when he thought he had scored the winner in the closing stages. But Rayo could have won it themselves in added time, with Radamel Falcao offside when he poked home at the far post after Pathé Ciss was unable to convert from an excellent position moments earlier.
“I understand the disappointment,” Xavi said afterwards. “We had generated a lot of expectation. We have to analyse the match, improve and carry on growing with our model, and keep working.”
Xavi also called for patience and this was only one match. More signings are also expected: Barça are in the market for a right-back and perhaps even another attacker, with Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva strongly linked.
Preparations for the Rayo match were not helped by the fact that the new players were not registered until the day before the game, while midfielder Frenkie de Jong’s future still has not been sorted and Xavi therefore opted to leave the Dutchman on the bench until the second half. Everything is a little chaotic at Camp Nou right now and the signings will also need time to gel, to assimilate Xavi’s ideas and style of play.
All of that said, the coach was right: this was disappointing after a positive pre-season campaign and next Sunday’s trip to Real Sociedad will be another big test.
Madrid find a way past Almería
For a while, it looked like Real Madrid might not win their opening match either. Coach Carlo Ancelotti made changes after the midweek win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the UEFA Super Cup and his side struggled early on at Almería, going behind to a Largie Ramazina goal after six minutes. It took some time for Los Blancos to get back into the game. Unsurprisingly, that happened following the half-time introduction of Luka Modrić. Meanwhile, Real Madrid’s go-to guy for goals in the past few seasons, Karim Benzema, did everything but score as he was frustrated by the excellent Fernando Martínez in the Almería goal. However, the Frenchman did manage to flick a loose ball to Lucas Vázquez – who started at right-back with Dani Carvajal absent through injury – for the equaliser after 61 minutes and the champions claimed the three points courtesy of a David Alaba free-kick a quarter of an hour before the end. The Austrian had only been on the field for 28 seconds!
“The match affected the youngsters on an emotional level,” Ancelotti said afterwards in reference to Eduardo Camavinga and debutant Aurélien Tchouaméni. And on Alaba’s winner, he said: “The ones who would usually take it were Benzema or Toni [Kroos]. But Alaba came on and he takes free-kicks really well. Davide [Ancelotti, Carlo’s son and assistant] said he should go on quickly, so he could take it.”
That quick thinking won the match for Real Madrid and at the end of the season, those two extra points could be very valuable indeed.
Atlético dominate on Monday night
Atlético Madrid impressed more than either of their title rivals and the Rojiblancos boasted the weekend’s outstanding player in João Félix. The Portuguese winger has struggled for consistency since his big-money move from Benfica in 2019, but shone in an unselfish role against Getafe as he set up all three goals for Diego Simeone’s side. The 22-year-old dinked the ball into the path of Álvaro Morata for Atlético’s first, before winning it back himself and finding the striker with an exquisite reverse pass for the second and setting substitute Antoine Griezmann away for the third. A hat-trick of assists. Sublime.
“He looks more mature and stronger,” Simeone said. “He is growing. We saw that in the first goal and the second with his passes. He is in the best moment of his career.”
Morata also impressed with his brace and although the Spain striker has been heavily linked with a transfer this summer, Simeone made his feelings clear. “I’m not the owner of the club, I’m the coach,” he said. “But he’s doing really well, he worked with a lot of humility and everyone at the club hopes he will stay.”
And asked if this is the best squad Atleti have had, Simeone said: “We’ll see at the end of the season.” Partido a partido.
Villarreal and Betis impress; Sevilla struggle
Sevilla will not be the only big team to lose away to Osasuna in 2022-23 and the Andalusians’ 2-1 defeat in LaLiga’s opening match on Friday came via a controversial penalty, the type of decision LaLiga referees had vowed not to award this term. Contact between Papu Gómez and Jon Moncayola had been minimal. The decision upset coach Julen Lopetegui and striker Rafa Mir. They called it a penaltito. A little penalty. “We have to accept it with certain scepticism,” Lopetegui said. Other than that, Sevilla had done quite well, although issues remain in central defence following the summer sales of Jules Koundé and Diego Carlos.
If Sevilla drop out of the top four this season, Villarreal will be one of the teams in contention to take their place. The Yellow Submarine started with a splash, thrashing promoted Real Valladolid 3-0 away from home. All of the goals came in the second half and two in the final 10 minutes — both of those scored by the excellent Alejandro Baena and the second a screamer into the top corner from outside the box. Golazo! “The result is probably bigger than it should be, but that’s because we were effective in front of goal,” Emery said. And after the game, the return of midfielder Giovani Lo Celso on loan from Spurs was announced. “I’m pleased,” Emery added. “Now is the time to be ambitious.”
Real Betis, with top-four aspirations of their own after an impressive 2021-22 season, also won their opening match 3-0. At home to Elche, the verdiblancos were helped by a red card inside 16 minutes after midfielder John Nwankwo fouled Aitor Ruibal with the Betis right-back through on goal. Midfielder Nabil Fekir was alert to dispossess Enzo Roco as the Chilean waited for the ball to go out for a throw-in and went on to set up Borja Iglesias for the first. And Juanmi showed great skill to score the second and third either side of the break. “I’m happy for the win, for the goals and the clean sheet,” coach Manuel Pellegrini said afterwards. “It has been some time since Betis won on the opening weekend.”
Meanwhile, the promoted clubs all lost on the opening weekend of LaLiga. Real Valladolid were beaten 3-0 at home to Villarreal, although the manner of the result was harsh and they were frustrated by the excellent Geronimo Rulli; Girona did better but ended with no reward as they were beaten by a Carlos Soler penalty in a 1-0 loss at Valencia: and Almería (winners of Segunda last term) put up an impressive display despite defeat at home to Real Madrid.
Credit goes to Mallorca for a plucky draw away to Athletic Club, where Ernesto Valverde was making his return as coach. Also to Celta Vigo and Espanyol following a 2-2 draw at Balaidos, with the Galicians inspired as ever by Iago Aspas and putting a difficult summer behind them, albeit frustrated in the end as the Catalans mounted a spirited late comeback from 2-0 down.
(Images from IMAGO)
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