The La Liga season is underway, and Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, and Real Madrid are each trying to launch a title campaign. Here’s how they played in the first week of La Liga matches.
Barcelona: B+
Hansi Flick’s squad opened their season with an unsurprising win against Mallorca. Barca opened the scoring after Lamine Yamal crossed the ball into Raphinha who slotted it home. Barca’s second goal came after the referee didn’t blow the whistle when a Mallorca player fell inside the box after clearing the wall. Should that goal never have happened? Probably. Should it have been disallowed? Nope. The referee didn’t blow his whistle, so the goal was valid.
The next few minutes were pandemonium as Mallorca had two players sent off. Barcelona failed to take full advantage though, which is something Hansi Flick mentioned in his postgame thoughts.
Nevertheless, Lamine Yamal scored the third goal at the end of the match, his second goal contribution of the game. It was a beautiful goal, and fans can be excited to see more of that for years to come. It was a solid start for the defending champions indeed.
Atletico Madrid: D-
Well, that was unexpected.
Against all odds, Espanyol beat Atletico 2-1, coming back from a 1-0 deficit to win a crucial opening match, For Atletico, this is literally the worst possible start to a season, especially considering the amount of money they invested this summer.
Julian Alvarez opened the scoring with an incredible free kick in the 37th minute, and for the majority of the match, Atletico were controlling the tempo. However, in the 73rd minute, Espanyol equalized with a set piece goal, and they took the lead in the 84th minute thanks to an insane header from Pete Milla.
Atletico now have an even higher mountain to climb if they truly want to compete for the La Liga title, which is the last thing Simeone’s squad wanted to start the season.
Real Madrid: C
Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid era has officially begun in La Liga, and while his squad delivered a win, they did so thanks to a mistake of their opponent, not through sheer dominance, even if the stats made it look like Madrid were clearly the better team.
Osasuna, Madrid’s opponent, lined up in a 5-3-2 formation, with the intention of cutting off Madrid’s access to the box and the half spaces on the pitch. The result? No open play goal was scored for either team, meaning the game would have been tied if Osasuna didn’t commit a silly foul inside the box early in the second half. Mbappe slotted home the penalty and got Madrid on the board.
Aside from that moment, Madrid really struggled to create opportunities, even when Osasuna opened up their shape as they tried to find an equalizer. Alonso definitely has a lot of work to do if he wants to get the better of Barcelona this season.