La Liga round-up: Barcelona and Atletico Madrid storm to victories as Real Madrid get by without Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo
Superstars James Rodriguez, Karim Benzema, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar and Antoine Griezmann all on scoresheet
ESPANYOL are generally the most accommodating of opponents for Real Madrid but on this occasion they really gave Los Blancos a game until the last 20 minutes.
The absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale left Zinedine Zidane short of options and at times they looked out of sorts.
But James Rodriguez’s stunning finish in first half injury time set them on their way before Karim Benzema cooly slotted home on 72 minutes after great work by Lucas Vazquez.
The win means that Real have beaten their own consecutive La Liga wins record set in 1960/61, equalled Pep Guardiola’s Barca of 2008/09 and should they beat Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, they will set a new all-time mark in the Spanish top flight of 17 wins on the spin.
Barcelona followed up their thrashing of Celtic with an equally impressive 5-1 victory at new boys Leganes.
The hosts matched the Catalans in the opening quarter hour but as soon as Lionel Messi had put Barca ahead, there was only going to be one winner.
Fellow strikers Luis Suarez and Neymar got in on the act before the latter was brought down allowing Messi to grab his second from the spot. Rafinha’s screamer was the pick of the bunch, Appelt Pires with a fine late consolation.
The Vicente Calderon faithful had barely taken their seats before Atletico Madrid had found themselves two goals to the good against Sporting Gijon, Antoine Griezmann and Kevin Gameiro scoring in the first six minutes. Another exquisite finish from the former saw the game over by half-time.
His replacement just before the hour mark, Fernando Torres, took just three minutes to register his first of the season, and scored his second at the death for a 5-0 home win.
On Wednesday they visit the Camp Nou!
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Real Betis clawed their way back from two down against Granada, to salvage a draw in a pulsating clash.
Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez had expertly put the visitors ahead and Alberto Bueno doubled the lead in the 33 rd minute. Alegria’s first on 36 was vital as Granada were in the ascendency, and his second just after the hour saw the points shared. A late penalty miss from Ezequiel Ponce cost the visitors a win.
Sevilla missed the chance to top the table, for 24 hours at least, after they were held to a 1-1 draw against minnows Eibar. The Andalusians took the lead through Luciano Vietto but Jorge Sampaoli couldn’t work his magic on this occasion, Pedro Leon equalising for the hosts who had captain Dani Garcia and keeper Yael red-carded.
Despite being the better side against Las Palmas for long spells of the match, Malaga can’t
buy a win and were wasteful in front of goal. Momo’s early penalty decided the game for
the Canary Islanders, a win which sees them move level on points with Barcelona
Osasuna and Celta Vigo played out a dire goalless draw in Pamplona whilst things go from bad to worse for Valencia who lost again. Four games, four losses, 10 goals conceded.
After taking the lead against Athletic Bilbao in the second minute, courtesy of Alvaro Modran, Los Che proceeded to shoot themselves in the foot. Evergreen Athletic striker Aritz Aduriz was far too wily for Valencia's ex-Manchester City centre back Eliaquim Mangala, scoring two goals before half time to seal the points.
Nicola Sansone added to his growing reputation by scoring both of Villarreal’s two goals
inside three first half minutes. Yuri’s response for Real Sociedad wasn’t enough, the 2-1 win taking the Yellow Submarine up to fifth.
Barcelona’s conquerors Alaves entertain Deportivo La Coruna on Monday night in the last match of week four.
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