The first round of the 2021/22 La Liga season got underway on Friday, with Valencia’s 1-0 over Getafe kicking off the new and exciting Spanish top-flight campaign. The action picked up considerably over the weekend, with Real Madrid taking to the field on Saturday, beating Deportivo Alaves 4-1 in their opening fixture. Reigning champions Atletico Madrid locked horns with Celta Vigo in Sunday’s early game and commenced their title defense with a crucial 2-1 victory over the Sky Blues.
Barcelona took on Real Sociedad later that same day, marching to a 4-2 triumph over Erreala in their first game in the post-Messi era. Sevilla overcame Rayo Vallecano 3-0 while Real Betis were held to a goalless draw against Mallorca. Villarreal, meanwhile, were in action on Monday, taking on Granada in one of two midweek matchday 1 fixtures – the other was Elche vs Athletic Club. Both games ended in goalless draws. Here’s everything you need to know about the opening round of the 2021/22 La Liga season.
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Martin Braithwaite scored twice in Barcelona’s opening day 4-2 victory over Real Sociedad, becoming the first Danish player to net a brace in La Liga in the 21st century.
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However, he wasn’t the only one to reach a personal feat in Sunday’s victory. Long-serving center-back Gerard Pique scored the opening goal in that victory, which was his 50th goal for the club, becoming the first defender to reach the half-a-century mark at the Blaugrana since none other than Ronald Koeman.
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Antoine Griezmann, who is expected to be one of Barcelona’s key men in the absence of Lionel Messi, made his 100th appearance for the club.
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Jan Oblak made his 304th appearance for Atletico Madrid over the weekend, becoming the goalkeeper with the most apps for Los Rojiblancos in history.
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Benzema found the back of the net in the victory over Deportivo Alaves, scoring the first goal of the league season for his club for the fourth time. The Frenchman went on to complete his brace and with that, he took his La Liga tally in 2021 to 17 goals. Only Messi boasts a higher figure in this calendar year (23).
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Athletic Club’s 0-0 draw with Elche saw the club equal their worst goalless run, having now gone four consecutive league games without scoring (D1, L3).
Top matches to watch in La Liga: Aug. 20-23, 2021
Athletic Club vs Barcelona: The Blaugrana began the post-Messi era with a 4-2 win over Real Sociedad but it will be interesting to see whether they can maintain that winning run in their trip to Athletic Club. Koeman will once again look to Depay and Braithwaite for inspiration while hoping Griezmann gets his first goal of the season.
Atlético Madrid vs Elche: Defending champions Los Rojiblancos opened their season with a much-needed victory. Slip-ups early on in the season can be detrimental to any team’s title push. It’s for this reason why they will need to beat Elche. Will they? Tune in next weekend to find out.
Levante vs Real Madrid: Los Blancos opened up their season with a win and will thus enter this tie with confidence. However, while Levante were held to a 1-1 draw at Cadiz, they are a side capable of pulling off upsets against bigger clubs. Ancelotti must not take this fixture lightly.
*Keep track of all the activity in the French top-flight by following our dedicated La Liga competition page
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