Atlético Madrid began the title defense campaign in the best way by beating Celta Vigo 2-1, Sunday, in the first stage of the Spanish Football League, which witnessed a huge victory for Barcelona over Real Sociedad 4-2 in its first official test in an era. After the Argentine star, Lionel Messi, who moved to Paris Saint-Germain, France.
In the first match, Diego Simeone’s team, who started the match by keeping Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez on the bench, owes his victory at the beginning of the season to Argentine Angel Correa, who scored the two goals.
Correa opened the scoring in the 23rd minute with a long shot after taking advantage of a special effort and a pass from Frenchman Thomas Lemar.
Despite the many chances that the capital team got in the remaining minutes of the first half, most notably a Mario Hermoso header that Chilean defender Renato Tapia kept off the goal line (38) and an attempt by Belgian Yannick Carrasco after a pass from Lemar did not find its way into the net (41), the result remained on It is the same until the players enter the dressing room.
With the beginning of the second half, the capital club found itself at the same distance from its host after the latter received a penalty kick as a result of a handball inside the forbidden area against Marcos Llorente, so Iago Aspas successfully scored in the goal of Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Polak (59).
But Correa put Atletico back in the lead again in the 63rd minute when the ball reached him, with a quick counter-attack from Saul Nigues, advancing on the left flank, and he hit the floor with his right to the right of his compatriot Matias Detoro.
According to “Opta” statistics, Korea raised its score to seven goals in its last nine matches in the league, which is one more than the number of goals he scored in the 49 games before this series.
Correa left the field immediately after the goal in favor of Suarez in a three-way substitution that saw the entry of the other Argentine newcomer, Rodrigo de Paul, from Udinese, Italy, and the Englishman, Kieran Trippier, instead of Lomar and Koke, respectively.
But the substitutes did nothing, but Celta was very close to equalizing again through Aspas, who overtook Oblak, but he shot outside the three blocks, although the goal was open in front of him (80).
The result remained the same until the final whistle, which witnessed a clash between the players after a mistake on Soares, which led to the expulsion of Hugo Malo from Celta and Hermoso from Atletico, who escaped a goal in the last seconds of stoppage time after a corner kick that caused confusion in front of the goal door.
Barcelona begins post-Messi era
Having arrived at the club 21 years ago when he was thirteen years old, Barcelona began -Messi era on Sunday positively by beating Real Sociedad 4-2 thanks to a double by Denmark’s Martin Braithwaite.
The Catalan club and its Dutch coach, Ronald Koeman, played the first official match since the decision to separate “Blaugrana” and the best player in the world six times due to the salary ceiling, which prevented the renewal of his contract in order to avoid threatening the club’s budget, according to the president of Joan Laporta.
Koeman’s men, who finished third last season behind the poles of the capital, Atlético and Real, performed convincingly against Sociedad, who suffered their 24th consecutive defeat in the league at the home of their Catalan rival, especially since the 1-1 draw on April 9, 1995.
Barcelona maintained its tradition in the opening matches at home, as it lost only once, dating back to 1939, against its neighbor Espanyol, according to “Opta” statistics.
Amid the resentment of the fans, some of whom demanded the departure of Laporta to hold him responsible for Messi’s departure, Barcelona imposed its preference with the participation of Dutch newcomer Memphis Depay mainly and the absence of the other newcomer Argentine Sergio Aguero to injury, and he got two golden opportunities to open the scoring with an acrobatic shot and a header attempt by French Antoine Griezmann, but the ball In the first attempt, it passed close to the right post (10) while the second bounced off the crossbar (12).
Barcelona quickly invested its superiority and opened the scoring with a header for Gerard Pique after a free-kick by Depay shortly after midfield (19).
Depay was close to adding the second goal after a cross from Braithwaite, but goalkeeper Alejandro Remiro was on the lookout for him (24).
Despite the dominance and some rare opportunities for the Basque guest, who had never previously won the league against Barcelona in the Camp Nou, Pique’s goal between the two sides remained until the last seconds of stoppage time for the first half, when Braithwaite added the second goal with a header after a cross from the Dutchman Francke de Jong Who broke the ball in the middle of the Sociedad court and sped it before turning it over to the Dane (2+45).
Braithwaite held the task of Sociedad with a second and third personal goal for his team after a team game and a distinctive technical pass for Depay to Jordi Alba, who penetrated on the left flank, reversing the ball intercepted by goalkeeper Remero, but it fell in front of the Danish, who fired it into the net (59).
The result remained the same until the 82nd minute, when the guests benefited from the modifications made by Koeman by taking out Sergio Busquets, de Young, American Sergino Dest and newcomer Eric Garcia. Substitute Julen Lopetti brought him back into the air by reducing the difference after a cross from the other substitute Ander Parinicchia, before shocking the captain. Mikel Oyarsabal “Camp Nou” scored the second goal for Sociedad from a wonderful free-kick (85).
But the substitute Sergio Roberto relieved the nerves of the Catalan fans by adding the fourth goal for the owner of the land after a cross from Braithwaite (1 + 90).
