La Liga gave us plenty of big teams playing small teams this weekend, but at least they gave us a reward. If Real Madrid v Leganes and Barcelona v Huesca were the meat and potatoes of the weekend, then Sevilla v Real Betis was the chocolate cake. As well, Celta’s upset of Atletico Madrid was the ground beef that turned into filet mignon.
La Liga Week 3: El Gran Derby, Barca and Madrid Cruise, Atletico Stumble
Real Betis 1-0 Sevilla
There is only one place to start and that’s with El Gran Derby. The game between bitter rivals Sevilla and Real Betis and is by far the biggest derby spectacle in Spain. Real Betis and their 55,000 screaming season ticket holders packed into the Benito Villamarin to give the world a show. And they came out flying, pressing Sevilla and spending much of the first 15 minutes in Sevilla’s final third.
But Sevilla weathered the early storm and by the 20th minute, they had had the best chance, forcing an outstanding save from Betis keeper Pau Lopez. From there, the game settled into a feisty back-and-forth encounter, with tempers flaring throughout the first half. Betis thought they had taken the lead in the 40th minuted but VAR ruled it out for offside.
When the second half got going, both teams continued to go back-and-forth. Then, in the 66th minute, Roque Mesa, already on a yellow card, decided he was going to jump in front of the Betis keeper Lopez and block his distribution of the ball. He was rightly given his second yellow card and, with it, his marching orders. Sevilla were down to ten men.
After ten more minutes of failed attacks, Betis manager Quique Setien brought on his elder statesman, 37-year-old winger Joaquin, to try and find the breakthrough. Five minutes later his head found the ball at the back post, and the ball found the back of the net; bedlam. Joaquin blew the roof of the place as he ripped off his shirt and sprinted into the corner. From there, Betis held their lead and left the Benito Villamarin with a crucial three points.
Around La Liga
Both Barcelona and Real Madrid had the fortune of taking on lesser teams in Huesca and Leganes respectively. Madrid hosted their city rival on Saturday night and it didn’t take long for them to put them to the sword. A Gareth Bale opener started a flood that ended with a 4-1 win for Los Blancos.
Barcelona played host to the newly promoted side Huesca and were very good hosts at first when Huesca took a 1-0 lead at the Camp Nou. The lead, however, did not last as Lionel Messi brought Barca level and they never looked back. They took a 3-2 lead into halftime and finished with an 8-2 victory over Huesca; simple stuff.
Elsewhere in the league, Valencia dropped points in one of their local derbies against Levante in a 2-2 draw at. Espanyol, winners against Valencia last week, losers against Alaves this week. And the three Friday night games saw Girona shock Villareal, Eibar beat Real Sociedad and Getafe draw with Valladolid.
Surprise of the Weekend
The biggest surprise of this La Liga weekend had to be Atletico Madrid. Atletico thought they could go to Celta and get another result to keep pace with the big two above them. However, they were denied that chance by the stellar play of Maxi Gomez. The centre-forward bagged a goal and assisted an Iago Aspas goal to give Vigo’s greatest sons a 2-0 win.
Diego Simeone’s men will have to go back to the drawing board after only four points from their first three games. Twas supposed to be Simeone’s most talented side at Atletico and, since the European Super Cup, they have not been at their best one bit.
Star of the Weekend
Who else but Joaquin? The Betis captain only played 20 minutes in Sunday night’s Seville Derby. But he had the biggest impact, scoring the only goal and sending 60,000 Betis fans into delirium. The last time Betis beat Sevilla, Joaquin told the whole team anyone who went home from the party before 5 am got fined. With the international break coming up, Joaquin may not be done partying until at least next week.
Main Photo
