La Liga Talking Points – Madrid Up and Running

Following an opening week of very few goals in La Liga, Real Madrid opened up their season account as they hit five past Real Betis, while Atletico Madrid’s 3-0 drubbing of Sevilla away at the Ramón Pizjuán Stadium was the highlight of the weekend’s Spanish top division action.

There was also an eye opening result as the lowly Eibar hosted Athletic Club and duly put two goals past the Basque side, cementing their 100% start to the season. Here, Kevin Kelly brings you all the latest talking points from the weekend’s La Liga action.

Atleti Ominous in Victory

Having begun the season with a deceptively impressive 1-0 win away at Las Palmas, Atleti fans would have been happy to just see the similar solidity displayed on their league opener. What they got was far more surprising; a 3-0 victory away at Sevilla with the 2014 La Liga champions looking ominously impressive both in attack and defense.

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Notably, Atleti started the game with all 11 players having been Atleti players at the end of last season too. Diego Simeone started with Fernando Torres up top, with new acquisition Jackson Martnez having to settle for a place on the bench; though the Colombian sealed the victory with a superb goal in the latter stages of the game having come on as a sub.

Rafa’s Bale Plan Works a Treat

Throughout the summer all the Spanish dailies, most notably Marca, had reported upon the intricate details of Rafa Benitez’s tactical plans for the season; as has been a curious constant in Spain. What had continually been reiterated was that Benitez would play Gareth Bale as a 10, behind Karim Benzema.

While Bale was left frustrated in the season opener, he was exceptional on the weekend, hitting two goals and assisting once in the 5-0 thrashing of the newly-promoted Real Betis. Headlines of “fewest goals in nine games” seem a tad premature now; Los Blancos took just 100 seconds to score the first goal of the game.

New signing Mateo Kovacic came on with fifteen minutes to go; one wonders when the midfielder will get a start for Benitez’s men. Following the international break Madrid will travel to Barcelona – but not for a Clasico, but to take on Espanol in another game to test the mettle of Madrid in an away setting.

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Eibar Continue Perfect Start

Eibar began the season beating Granada 3-1 away and continued their impressive start to the season as they put two unanswered goals past Athletic Club on Sunday evening. Eibar have gone from 18th and relegation to top of La Liga. Elche’s demotion gave the Basque side a lifeline, and their signings this summer seem to be clever.

Two wins from two will only serve to remind the club of last year: Thier excellent first half of the season was followed by an awful plummet into the drop zone. For now, though, they can bask in the glory of being one of the four sides with a 100 per cent record.