It’s time for our round-up of all the main talking points from the weekend’s football in Spain.
By Ben Hayward, LaLiga expert
Madrid: No Casemiro, no problem
Everyone at Real Madrid was sad to see Casemiro leave the club following his move to Manchester United. But life without the Brazilian midfielder started smoothly on Saturday as Los Blancos beat Celta Vigo 4-1 at Balaidos.
With Casemiro gone and Toni Kroos missing because of flu, coach Carlo Ancelotti picked a line-up featuring four midfielders away to Celta Vigo. Summer signing Aurélien Tchouaméni started alongside France team-mate Eduardo Camavinga and the 36-year-old Luka Modrić, with Fede Valverde in an advanced role on the right.
Tchouaméni was signed for an initial €80 million from Monaco, with the 22-year-old seen as a defensive midfielder for the future, but Casemiro’s departure means his development will now be fast-tracked.
At Balaidos, though, it was 36-year-old Modrić who was the inspiration behind Real’s big win after a penalty converted by each team – Karim Benzema for Real, Iago Aspas for Celta.
Modrić, who will be 37 next month, curled a beautiful shot into the corner from outside the box to make it 2-1 to the champions and the Croatian set Vinícius Júnior away for the third with a wonderful pass from deep.
“He’s immortal,” Ancelotti said afterwards. “He is always prepared, he always plays well. His goal changed the game.”
Tchouaméni also played his part. The Frenchman began the move for Madrid’s third goal with a key defensive block and his excellent run also led to his side’s fourth – scored by Valverde after 66 minutes.
“He is a player with different qualities to Casemiro,” Ancelotti said. “He played well, he did what he shows in training: personality, good on the ball, enjoying the team’s good game.”
Madrid won another penalty late on, but substitute Eden Hazard saw his spot-kick saved after he was handed the opportunity to score by Benzema.
No matter. Real Madrid have six points from their two fixtures so far, both away from home as renovations continue at the Santiago Bernabéu. Business as usual – with or without Casemiro.
Ansu Fati the inspiration for Barcelona
Barcelona needed a response – and a goal – after being held to a 0-0 draw at Camp Nou by Rayo Vallecano in their first LaLiga game. And it took less than 45 seconds for Robert Lewandowski to open his account for the Blaugrana, netting with a clinical left-footed finish to give the visitors the lead following a pass from wing-back Alejandro Balde.
That was a perfect start, but Barça have had difficulties at the Reale Arena in recent years and Alexander Isak levelled just a few minutes later. Real Sociedad also had a goal disallowed later on.
The scores were still level when Ansu Fati came on for Ferran Torres in the second half, but the young forward’s introduction changed everything. Within two minutes, he had set up Ousmane Dembélé for Barça’s second. Within two more, he had assisted Lewandowski for the Pole’s second of the night – on his 34th birthday – to make it 3-1. And with 11 minutes left, he latched onto an extraordinary elastic ball from the former Bayern Munich striker to score himself.
Ansu is still only 19 years old, but has seen his progress interrupted by injuries since he burst onto the scene so impressively in 2019-20. Now, all of that looks to be behind him – and it should be his time to shine again.
“He can make the difference,” Xavi said. “He didn’t start out of precaution (following his injury problems) and because we have competition for places.” On this evidence, he will be starting much more often from now on.
The win was key, leaving Barça just two points behind the leaders after two rounds of LaLiga.
“It was a tough game,” Xavi said. “Winning in this stadium is always hard. It is a very important victory for us, which reinforces the work we are doing.” Onwards and upwards.
Tensions mount at Atlético Madrid
There was tension on and off the pitch at the Wanda Metropolitano as Atlético Madrid were beaten 2-0 by Villarreal. Diego Simeone’s side looked flat in their first home match of the season and conceded twice late in the game as all the optimism from the previous weekend’s 3-0 win at Getafe quickly evaporated.
The Rojiblancos never really got going here and goals from Yéremi Pino and Gerard Moreno sealed a 2-0 win for Unai Emery’s side – the second of those after Nahuel Molina had been sent off for hitting Alex Baena in the neck.
Frustration in the stands boiled over after the final whistle and defender Mario Hermoso had to be held back as he argued with some of the club’s ultras for several minutes following the final whistle.
Meanwhile, a clause in Antoine Griezmann’s contract stating that Atlético will have to buy him back from Barcelona if he completes 45 minutes in at least half the games he is available for this season means the club cannot afford to play the French forward as much as they would like to.
“We have to work,” Simeone said. “They were some good things and others we can improve.”
The Argentine also refused to blame LaLiga’s lack of goal-line technology after Yannick Carrasco thought he had headed them level late on. “We trust in the technology that LaLiga has,” the Argentine said. But he added: “That was the move for 1-1.”
Meanwhile, this was Emery’s first win over Simeone and the Basque said: “That shows you how good he is. And he is getting better.”
Villarreal are joint top of the table after back-to-back wins and Emery added: “We have to look at achievable objectives, but aiming as high as we can.” So far, so good.
Betis win again; Sevilla struggling
Despite an array of absences, Real Betis followed up their win over Elche last weekend with a 2-1 victory at Mallorca. Borja Iglesias scored the goals – both penalties – for the Andalusians and afterwards, coach Manuel Pellegrini said: “It’s not easy to prepare for two matches with 11 players missing, but this group grows in adversity.”
Sevilla lost 2-1 at Osasuna last weekend and Julen Lopetegui’s side struggled again in their second match – a 1-1 draw at home to Real Valladolid in which Isco made minimal impact as a substitute. Once again, Sevilla could have taken a win, but Lopetegui said: “In football, it’s not about what you deserve… you need goals.”
Ernesto Valverde got his first win since returning to Athletic Club as the Basques beat Valencia 1-0 at San Mames, thanks to Alex Berenguer’s first-half goal. Athletic drew 0-0 at home to Mallorca the previous weekend and Valverde said: “We’re just getting started. There is a lot to improve on.”
Rayo Vallecano followed up their impressive draw at Barcelona with another excellent result in the Catalan capital – this time a 2-0 win at Espanyol – to make it four points from six for Andoni Iraola’s side.
Also in Catalonia, promoted side Girona beat Getafe 3-1 and it looks like it will be a long season for the Madrid team, beaten 3-0 at home to Atlético in their opener the previous weekend.
(Images from IMAGO)
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