Easy Victory for Barcelona.. Difficult One for Real Madrid

Barcelona continued their perfect start to the season with a convincing 3-0 victory over visitors Getafe, securing their eighth consecutive win. Meanwhile, Ivory Coast newcomer Yankuba Diomande gave Real Madrid a hard-fought 1-0 win over Villarreal, despite the red card of their Brazilian winger Vinicius Junior for pulling an opponent’s hair, as reported the previous day, in the eighth round of the Spanish league.

In the opening match at Camp Nou, and without their captain and top scorer, Brazilian Raphinha, who was sidelined with a right thigh injury sustained during the international break with his national team, the Catalan giants relied on new signings Englishman Anthony Gordon and Brazilian Gabriel Jesus. Both players justified the trust placed in them by German coach Hansi Flick. Gordon opened the scoring and added to his tally for the Catalan club since joining from Newcastle United (2nd minute), while Jesus, who arrived on loan from English club Arsenal, doubled the lead after 30 minutes. Defender Jules Kounde scored the third goal following a pass from Lamine Yamal (73rd minute), celebrating in the best possible way by becoming the most-capped French player in the history of the Catalan club, surpassing fellow defender Eric Abidal with his 194th appearance across all competitions.

This was Barcelona’s eighth win in eight league matches, during which they scored 34 goals while conceding just seven, strengthening their position at the top of the table with 24 points and confirming their pursuit of a third consecutive league title. The gap between Barcelona and their direct rival Atletico Madrid, who defeated Deportivo Alaves 2-1, was restored to five points, while the margin over their traditional rivals and last season’s runners-up, Real Madrid, widened to six points.

Gordon, who has drawn attention since his summer arrival, scored his first goal for Barcelona with a low shot that took a deflection after he dribbled past three players, hitting one of them and fooling goalkeeper David Soria (2nd minute). Getafe defender Zaid Romero caused the second goal for Barcelona by losing the ball inside the penalty area; instead of simply clearing it, he attempted to dribble, allowing Jesus to intercept, penetrate the box, and curl a right-footed shot past Soria (30th minute).

At the Santiago Bernabeu, Diomande secured a difficult 1-0 win for Real Madrid over Villarreal, keeping his team six points behind Barcelona, despite Vinicius’s red card. Diomande, Real Madrid’s most expensive signing in history, scored his first goal for the club since joining from German side Leipzig with a low shot from inside the box following a pass from Uruguayan Federico Valverde. Vinicius, who came on as a substitute, had a goal disallowed (71st minute) after Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review showed he had pulled the hair of Villarreal’s Canadian midfielder Nathan Sierro (73rd minute). Real Madrid, led by Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho, struggled in the final minutes with ten men but managed to hold on for the three points, temporarily moving up to second place.

Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid solidified their resurgence and moved into second place with a 2-1 victory over host Deportivo Alaves, who played with ten men. Following their convincing win in the capital derby against Real Madrid 2-1 before the international break, Atletico continued their positive run with a fourth consecutive league win against the Basque side, who were reduced to ten men after a deserved red card for young player Angel Perez in the 60th minute. Defender Alejandro Grimaldo gave Atletico the lead with a cross-body shot in the 33rd minute, following a beautiful one-two pass with Canadian striker Jonathan David, formerly of French club Lille.

However, Diego Simeone’s team conceded an equalizer just before the end of the first half from a penalty kick, which was awarded after French-Spanish defender Robin Le Normand committed the foul, and Argentine Lucas Boyé successfully converted it in the sixth minute of stoppage time. Argentine defender Carlos Romero restored Atlético’s lead for the “Colchoneros” in the 87th minute, heading in a fine cross delivered by World Cup champion Alex Baena with the outside of his right foot. Baena had come on as a substitute at the start of the second half (2-1). Meanwhile, the match between Rayo Vallecano and their guests Athletic Bilbao was abandoned due to home fans throwing objects onto the pitch at the Vallecas Stadium, in protest against club president Raúl Martín Presa.