La Liga Game Week 1: What We Learned – Rafa Blunt As Ever

Following the opening weekend of games in Spain’s top flight co-editor Kevin Kelly reviews all the action, listing the key points of discussion for fans of the world’s most intriguing soccer league. 

Madrid Stalemate Worrying For Rafa

Rafa Benitez began his career as Real Madrid manager in a turgid and frustrating 0-0 away at the newly-promoted Sporting Gijon. Madrid’s attack lacked cohesion and fluidity for which Benitez’s detractors will claim standard. Jese Rodriguez was uop front while Gareth Bale played as a 10, Ronaldo on the left and Isco on the right.

Sporting went closest when Antonio Sanabria’s header hit the crossbar and bounced down onto the line. Real had 27 shots, but only eight on target and they were all straight at keeper Ivan Cuellar bar one Cristiano Ronaldo effort he tipped over.

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“To get the best out of the players we’ve got to give them a certain amount of freedom. The front players created a lot of moves but they didn’t have a lot of space. We had a lot of shots but we lacked accuracy,” Benitez quipped, after the game.

Roberto Impresses at Right-Back With Barca Threadbare

When Barcelona were sentenced to an 18 month transfer ban by FIFA many believed it was no sanction at all. That may be right, but with an inability to add new players to the squad until January, an array of injuries to the trebles winners have exposed several deficiencies.

The absence of Jeremy Mathieu, Gerard Pique and Javier Mascherano at the back have left them short in central-defence, yet the loss of Dani Alves has really left Luis Enrique with a need to tinker. Sergi Roberto, primarily a box-to-box central-midfielder, played at right-back against Athletic Club on Sunday, showing a lot of astute defensive abilities, along with the expected technical ability going forward.

Barcelona won of course, 1-0 courtesy of a late Luis Suarez header, showing more grit and determination than flowing football. Nevertheless an opening day win at San Memes is commendable in any circumstance, but given the Supercopa thrashing in the previous week, it really was eye-catching.

New Boys Hold Their Own

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None of the newly-promoted teams were put to shame over the weekend. The aforementioned Sporting Gijon were resolute in their defending as they ground out a 0-0 against Real Madrid, while Las Palmas were unlucky to lose 1-0 to the 2014 La Liga champions Atletico Madrid.

All three played neat and tidy football, though Real Betis in particular showed an aggressive side to their game, too. Add in the infrastructure, the bigger-name signings and the much bigger crowds, and they have to be seen as the best bet out of the three newcomers to stay up—probably without too much trouble.

Soldado Begins With a Goal

Despite a truly horrid time in England for Spurs, Roberto Soldado began life back in La Liga with a bang – or more specifically, with a goal. Soldado managed an awe-inspiring one league goal last season with Tottenham; he took precisely 30 minutes to match that tally in 2015-16 once back on Spanish soil.