Madrid, Aug 31 (IANS) Although Spanish football clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid both won their respective games in the second round of La Liga, a little piece of history was made this weekend.
Barcelona had to huff and puff their way to a 1-0 win at home to Malaga which came as the result of a 72nd minute goal from Thomas Vermaelen while Real Madrid cruised to an easy win against Betis thanks to two goals each from Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez and a header from Karim Benzema on Sunday, reports Xinhua.
What was surprising is that neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo were on the scoresheet for their respective sides and it is the first time ever that neither scored in two consecutive matches when they have both started for their respective clubs.
While Messi could point to a string of saves from Malaga keeper Carlos Kameni who denied him five times in the second half of his side’s win, Ronaldo cut a frustrated figure as others around him shone and even appeared to shrug off a consoling arm from coach Rafael Benitez at the end of Real Madrid’s win.
Sunday saw perhaps the most interesting match of the weekend as Atletico Madrid visited Sevilla in an early season meeting between two sides expected to battle for a top-4 placing this time around.
It was moment for one side to take a huge step forward and Atletico did that with a clear 3-0 away win thanks to goals from Koke, Gabi Fernandez and Jackson Martinez, who netted his first goal for the club in a clear win for Diego Simeone’s side.
Eibar are second in the table after taking advantage of a tired Athletic Club Bilbao to win 2-0 in the Ipurua Stadium. Saul Berjuan ad Adrian Gonzalez scored the goals for the home side.
Valencia and Deportivo, meanwhile, drew 1-1 thanks to goals from Alvaro Negredo and Lucas Perez while Granada stunned Getafe 2-0 with goals from el Arabi and Isaac Success.
