La Liga Round 6 : Barca Battle Back

Hola everyone!

I really hope you are all well and welcome back to the round-up in this week’s La Liga.

Plenty of games to get through so lets just jump straight into it with Real Betis taking on Atletico Madrid in last Wednesday game :-

(9th) Real Betis 2 — 4 Atletico Madrid (2nd)

So Atletico continue their fine start to the season with a hard fought win away at Betis, the home side struck first when a cross wasn’t dealt with allowing Agra to glance a header past Courtais in the Atleti goal. Two minutes later and who else but Radamel Falcao tapping in the equaliser just two minutes later.  The home side took the lead again with a bit of luck as Carlo’s cross looped over the stricken goal keeper and the lead at half time.

Second half and it was all one way, Falcao fouled stepped up and composed himself to fire Atletico back into the game and they took the lead for the first time when a header was flicked on from a corner allowing the unmarked Diego Costa to score. The game was sealed when Arda Turan squared for Raul Garcia to smash in the fourth and making sure Atletico remain a real force this season.

Goals : Agra 26′, Carlos 47′ — Falcao 28′, 48′, Costa 55′, Garcia 93′

Ana’s Man of the Match : Radamel Falcao, two more goals and his powerful yet pacey style is a joy to watch!

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(10th) Valencia 2 — 0 Real Zaragoza (15th)

So Valencia ended there poor run with a comfortable home victory over Zaragoza, they began well enough only twelve minutes gone when a cross from the left was deflected into his path of Feghouli and when his first effort was blocked by the defender he made no mistake in smashing in the second attempt to give Los Ches a deserved lead. By the time Jonas had squared for the lively Jonathon Viera to tap in it looked like Valencia were well on their way to sealing only the second win of the season however goal scorer Feghouli was sent off on the hour mark leading to a nervy end for Valencia who still held on.

Goals : Feghouli 12′, Viera 59′, Feghouli S/O 62

Ana’s Man of the Match : Jonathon Viera, scored one and looked lively all game.

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(3rd) Malaga 4 — 0 Real Betis (9th)

Malaga’s strong start to the season continued as they crushed a woeful Betis side to move into third, Betis were down from eleven minutes when the goalkeeper was red carded and Joaquin stepped up to score the resulting penalty kick. Saviola then tapped the home side into a two goal advantage with a suspicion of offside  Amaya couldnt deal with a Monreal delivery turning the ball into his own goal before the rout was completed when Roque Santa Cruz played the lively Isco in and he showed a touch of class chipping the ball in to the delight of the home crowd.

Goals : Joaquin 12 ‘, Saviola 28′, Amaya O/G 72′, Isco 74’

Ana’s Man of the Match : Isco, another terrific display as he looked a constant threat all game.

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(8th) Real Sociedad 2 — 0 Athletic Bilbao (18th)

Advantage Sociedad in the first Basque derby of the season as Bilbao’s defence continues to look very shaky, Sociedad looked far the better of the two sides and struck the woodwork twice and forced a couple of fine saves until they managed to take the lead when Griezmann fired past Iraizoz for a deserved lead. Vela made sure from the penalty spot when Amorebieta was red carded for handball as the home side looked good moving into eighth.

Goals : Griezmann 62′, Vela 72′ — Amorbieta S/O 72

Ana’s Man of the Match : Antoine Griezmann, one of my favourite players to watch in La Liga and he had a fantastic game for Sociedad.

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(4th) Sevilla 2 — 3 Barcelona (1st)

Barca battled back from two down to win a terrific game in Sevilla, the home side who have already beaten Real Madrid got off to the perfect start when a deflected shot fell to the feet to Piotr Trocohwski to fire past Victor Valdes. Just after half time and cue a second Sevilla goal as Gary Medel won the ball back and slid the ball through to Alvaro Negredo who showed decent pace and a lovely finish to clip the ball over the helpless Valdes.

Barca looked out of sorts but pulled a goal back when the ball broke nicely for Cesc Fabregas to score from just outside the area and give the away side a chance back into the match, Medel lost his head and was shown a red card after a coming together with Fabregas and was made to pay when a sloppy pass out from the Sevilla defence was pounced upon and Messi picked out Fabregas to steal what looked like an amazing point only for things to change again. In the 93rd minute Villa exchanged a brilliant one two with Pedro and the Spanish striker smashed in his shot to protect Tito and Barca’s 100% winning start in an amazing end.

Goals : Trochowski 26′, Negredo 48′ Medel S/O 72 — Fabregas 53′ 89′, Villa 93′

Ana’s Man of the Match : Cesc Fabregas, two fine goals and another impressive display from the Barca player.

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(17th) Granada 2 — 1 Celta Vigo (14th)

Two early goals were good enough for Granada as they beat Celta, Guilherme Siqueira stoked in the first from the penalty spot before going provider for Gabriel Torje to double the home side’s lead. Iago Aspas pulled one back early and created several more great chances but that man Tono was outstanding once again as Granada held on to the three points.

Goals : Siqueira 12′, Torje 17′ — Aspas 20′

Ana’s Man of the Match : Tono, another terrific display in goals for the Granada keeper.

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(7th) Real Valladolid 6 — 1 Rayo Vallecano (13th)

Valladolid went goal crazy as they put in a hugely clinical display at home to Rayo, Alejandro Domingues first breaking the offside line to fire across the goalkeeper for the opener for the away side. Alberto Bueno’s fine finish leveled the game as Manucho headed in from close range to turn the game around Oscar added a third after he was played clean through and his clipped finish gave the home team a commanding lead. Omar’s ball found Rukavina who smashed the ball into the roof of the net made four whilst Manucho’s fine pass released Oscar who finished low to make it five as Manucho completed the rout tapping in at the far post as Rayo were torn to pieces.

Goals : Bueno 10′, Manucho 13′, 86′ Oscar 21′, 56′, Rukavina 37′ — Dominguez 5′

Ana’s Men of the Match! : Oscar and Manucho, had to be both as they showed so much quality and they both scored twice and made another two goals each as Valladolid showed a really clinical edge.

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(19th) Osasuna 4 — 0 Levante (12th)

The goals kept flowing as Osasuna recorded their first win of the season with a comfortable victory over Levante, a really scrappy opening goal was eventually turned in by Armenteros as Osasuna doubled their lead as on the counter attack Munua made a fine save only to tip the ball into the path of Lamah who made the game safe. Timor converted a late penalty and Nino added fourth late on samshing in from close range a much needed victory for the home team.

Goals : Armenteros 88′, Lamah 82′, Timor 89′, Nino 93′

Ana’s Man of the Match : Armenteros, made one and scored one in a fine display from the Osasuna midfielder.

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(6th) Real Madrid 5 — 1 Deportivo (16th)

Real Madrid came from behind to beat a spirited Depor side, a fine move saw Riki break clear and he finished well to silence the home crowd. A questionable penalty was given allowing Ronaldo to level the match allowing Angel di Maria to score after a fantastic pass from Modric and more poor defending followed allowing Ronaldo to header in his second and Madrid’s third. Pepe looked off side but the scoreline wouldnt have changed as he tapped in from close range for a fourth and a second Ronaldo penalty sealed a big win.

Goals : Ronaldo 23′, 44′, 84′  di Maria 38′, Pepe 66′ — Riki 16′

Ana’s Man of the Match : Luka Modric, classy display in midfield for Real Madrid as he is starting to settle.

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(20th) Espanyol 0 — 1 Atletico Madrid (2nd)

Atletico’s fine run continues with a narrow win away at Espanyol who have yet to record a victory this season. A largely uneventful game was won by the first real bit of quality as a terrific cross from Juan Fran was headed in by Raul Garcia as Atletico look a real threat for the title this season.

Goals : Raul Garcia 30′

Ana’s Man of the Match : Raul Garcia, looking like the player we had all hope for and the driving force in the Atletico midfield.

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(11th) Getafe 1 — 0 Real Mallorca (5th)

Mallorca’s fine start was ended by a determined Getafe side, Mallorca were up against it as after ten minutes Ximo was show a red card and they struggled to recover as Getafe looked the better team. The game was won on forty nine minutes when Abdel Barrada found Diego Castro to smash in the winner as Getafe start to climb the table.

Goals : Castro 49′ — Ximo S/O 10

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That’s that! Thanks again for reading and I look forward to reading your thoughts and answering any questions you may have. As always the league table can be found here and my other reports are found here if you need to catch up with anything you may have missed.

My question to you is can Atletico Madrid win the title? I think they have a great chance as most of you have seen how well they played against Chelsea and if they can continue to find consistency they could be very close I think. With Falcao fit and scoring and an excellent defence I feel they may just upset the odds this season but I would like to hear what you think.

Match day seven will be the first league El Clasico of the season so any thoughts you want to share then please feel free. :)