Ronaldo On Fire, Barca Scrapes Through – A Look Back At La Liga This Weekend

The third round of La Liga fixtures had some exciting matches as Barcelona hosted Valencia, Malaga travelled to Zaragoza and Madrid was up against Granada. The weekend kicked off with Malaga, Celta de Vigo and Mallorca picking up three points while Deportivo and Getafe settled for a draw. But the main highlight this weekend was at Santiago Bernabeu as Madrid and Ronaldo demolished Granada  with a 3-0 victory.

Real Madrid started from where they left off at the mid week’s Super Cup victory over rivals Barcelona. It took only half of their effort from the previous game to topple one of the modest clubs in the league. Ronaldo scored his first league goals this season and it was enough to secure the first victory of the season for the reigning champions. This has been the worst start to a campaign for Real Madrid under Jose Mourinho, who will only be satisfied with the Super cup victory. Ronaldo opened his account at the 26th minute and added another in the second half which was his 150th goal for the Los Blancos. Granada’s night went from bad to worse as defender,  Borja Gomez was sent out after receiving two yellow cards.

The game also saw the debut of newly recruited Croatian midfielder Luka Modric, who had a decent game in his first outing. Overall it will be a satisfying week for Jose Mourinho as his side picked up its first victory and also managed to keep a clean sheet.

Meanwhile, rivals Barcelona had a tough game against Valencia at home but eventually came out as winner thanks to a thunderous strike from Adriano. Barcelona started the game well as they kept possession and created chances earlier in the game. Inesta, Messi and crew showcased their attacking flare before the home crowd and finally broke down Valencia’s defense at the 21st minute. But the gaol is not a trade mark Barcelona goal as it was a long range effort from Adriano. The only disappointment from the game was the chances ruined by Fabregas.

Fabregas failing to impress for the second game running

The former Arsenal man had an off day as he missed couple of easy chances and looked out of sorts all through the game. The game also saw Alex Song making his league debut and had an impressive display as he fitted in the team seamlessly and provided a much needed defensive presence in the midfield.

Results from other games:

Celta Vigo 2-0 Osasuna, Zaragoza 0-1 Malaga, Deportivo La Coruna 1-1 Getafe, Mallorca 1-0 Real Sociedad, Rayo Vallecano 0-0 Sevilla, Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Valladolid, Levante 3-2 Espanyol.

Player of the Week:

A different choice but i think a correct choice. It has to be Samuele Longo, on loan from Internazionale and making his debut for a new club in La Liga, he showed no signs of nervousness as he found his feet from the very start of the game.

 

Talking point of the week:

As the games went on smoothly, there was one problem and it was between Real Madrid and Ronaldo. The Portuguese forward who usually celebrates his goals with a style of his own, uncharacteristically did not celebrate. And it is believed that Ronaldo is not happy at the club as he feels that his presence in not valued by his team and there are also rumors that he has a rift with few of his team mates. And according to Cadena Ser de Radio this is was Ronaldo has said after the match:

“I`m sad because of a professional issue and the club know why. That`s why I didn`t celebrate the goals, because I`m not happy. The people [at the club] know why. It`s nothing to do with Iniesta [winning European player award]. I won`t talk about this anymore and I will concentrate on Portugal for now. There are more important things [than this]. The people at the club know about this. I can`t say any more,” he said on Sunday.

Has Ronaldo shown signs of leaving Madrid ??