LaLiga is back. It does so on a first matchday that will take advantage of the holiday on Thursday 15 August to extend until Monday. Girona in the Champions League made its debut at Betis’ ground in a match that ended in a draw. The highlight came on Saturday with the clash between Valencia and Barcelona, with a Catalan victory by 1-2. On Sunday, Madrid, the big favourite, made its debut against Mallorca, with a 1-1 scoreline. Monday ended with an entertaining clash between Villarreal and Atlético de Madrid, which ended in a 2-2 draw.
Valladolid – RCD Espanyol (1-0)
Valladolid beat Espanyol (1-0) by the narrowest of margins in the first match of the season between two newly promoted teams. The Castilian side won the first direct duel for survival thanks to a solitary goal from Raúl Moro, who was named the best player of the match. The winger from Lazio fired from the edge of the area and was fortunate that his effort was deflected by Sergi Gómez before it ended up beating goalkeeper Joan García. Espanyol tried again in the second half, but were unable to get the equaliser. Javi Puado had the clearest chance for the Catalan side, but his left-footed shot hit the side netting.
Villarreal – Atletico Madrid (2-2)
Villarreal and Atlético Madrid shared points at La Cerámica. Arnaut Danjuma put the hosts ahead with a terrific counterattack, with a great individual move in which he got past Axel Witsel and then finished with a left-footed cross to beat Jan Oblak. Just two minutes later, Marcos Llorente came on from the right flank and equalised with a powerful shot at the near post. Villarreal went ahead again thanks to an own goal from Koke after an error from Oblak, who failed to clear the ball from an opponent’s cross. However, shortly before the break, Alexander Sorloth made his debut for Atlético to level the game again. In a goalless second half, the highlight was the debut of Julián Álvarez as an Atlético Madrid player.
RCD Mallorca – Real Madrid (1-1)
The new Real Madrid, with the dynamite display of Mbappé, Vinicius, Bellingham and Rodrygo, got stuck in the first round of defending the league title. They were unable to translate into goals the panic caused in Greif’s area by their four great threats, at times with too much arabesque, and this version of Arrasate’s Mallorca, ambitious and daring, not only frustrated them, but also came close to a complete comeback while Madrid added pieces to the field without extracting more harvest. David Alvarez
Athletic – Getafe (1-1)
A well-deserved draw for a Getafe side that arrived at San Mamés with just enough to get a point in one of the most difficult away games of the season. They were better in the first half hour, but Sancet scored first to cut the blue team’s spirits. In the second half, Bordalás’s men came out fired up thanks to the inclusion of Peter Federico. Uche would score, however, in what was his first goal in the First Division. The Madrid team held on and Athletic pushed in the final minutes in search of the three points.
Betis – Girona (1-1)
It was an electrifying and beautiful match between Betis and Girona in the Andalusian capital. The Betis team struck early with a header from Bartra after a corner. This made their rivals feel insecure and they conceded more chances after absurd losses, which did not exempt them from building up play as they have accustomed us to. In the second half, the Catalans took control of the ball and found the equaliser, although it was also true that Betis had conceded a lot of ground and only wanted to maintain their early advantage. The reaction of Pellegrini’s men did not prevent the equaliser. A sharing of points with a better taste in the mouth for Míchel’s men, who went from less to more.
Celtic – Alaves (2-1)
A hard-fought comeback by Celta Vigo gave Alavés hope, as they came close to three points in the 50th minute of the match, thanks to a header from Kike García, after a masterful cross from Antonio Blanco. The equaliser came in the 66th minute, after a ball was recovered in the opponent’s half, which was finished off by Williot Swedberg. In the 83rd minute, a left-footed shot from Iago Aspas sealed the match. The forward had been sent off in the sixth minute, but the VAR intervened to rectify the red card.
UD Las Palmas – Sevilla (2-2)
UD Las Palmas and Sevilla drew 2-2 in what was the return of Francisco Javier García Pimienta, current Sevilla coach, to Gran Canaria to face his former team. The Andalusian team took the lead thanks to an own goal by Álex Suárez, but another own goal by Nianzou equalised the score before the break. In the second half, Juanlu Sánchez put Sevilla ahead again, but UD Las Palmas again managed to equalise the match with a goal from Sandro 20 minutes from the end.
Osasuna – Leganes (1-1)
Osasuna and Leganés drew 1-1 in a tight game. The Madrid side had a great first half on their return to the First Division and went into the break with the lead, thanks to a great goal from Juan Cruz, who volleyed in with the outside of his foot to leave Sergio Herrera nailed to the head. The second half belonged to the Navarrese side, who managed to equalise with an own goal from goalkeeper Juan Soriano after a shot from Aimar Oroz. Later on, Bryan Zaragoza came close to winning the game for Osasuna, with a spectacular shot from the edge of the area, but Soriano redeemed himself from his mistake with a great save, so that Leganés left El Sadar with a point.
Valencia CF – Barcelona (1-2)
FC Barcelona came from behind against Valencia on the first matchday of the 2024/25 season. The home side took the lead late in the first half, with a fine header from Hugo Duro following a cross from Diego López. However, a brace from Robert Lewandowski put the Blaugrana side on the road to victory. The Polish striker equalised in added time in the first half and later put his team ahead from the penalty spot in the opening minutes of the second half. After that, the scoreline did not change again and Barça took home their first win of the season. The only bad news for Hansi Flick’s team was the injury to Alejandro Balde, who had to come off the bench.
Real Sociedad – Rayo Vallecano (1-2)
Rayo Vallecano struck a blow at Anoeta against a Real Sociedad side that was different from last season, who at times looked like a lesser team and were quite out of place during the 98 minutes of the match. The San Sebastian team never felt comfortable, holding their own in the first half and going into the break hoping to take a step forward, but it was in the second quarter that the Vallecanos sealed the deal and started another season in the top flight in a very good way. Zubimendi’s goal in the 97th minute only slightly concealed the poor image given by the Real Sociedad team, in which neither Kubo nor Oyarzabal, two of the leaders of the previous season, appeared. Jon Rivas
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