Defending champion Real Madrid sailed to a 4-1 road victory over Celta Vigo, and are joined by Real Betis and Osasuna as teams with a perfect record going into the new La Liga season.
After Celta Vigo striker Iago Aspas cancelled out Karim Benzema’s early penalty on Saturday evening, goals from Luka Modric, Vinicius Jr and Federico Valverde kept Real Madrid rolling early in its title defence.
Both of Betis’ goals in their 2-1 win away to Mallorca, and Osasuna’s two goals in their 2-0 home win over Cadiz came from the penalty spot, Xinhua reports. Borja Iglesias put Betis ahead in the ninth minute, and Vedat Muriqi levelled for Mallorca early in the second half. A harsh penalty given for a supposed foul on Nabil Fekir allowed Iglesias to score from the spot to decide a match where the referee showed 15 yellow cards.
Osasuna made two wins from two games and left Cadiz with two defeats. A penalty from Chimy Avila in the 37th minute and another from Kike Garcia 11 minutes from time gifted the team from Pamplona a 2-0 triumph.
The second round began on Friday night with Rayo Vallecano winning 2-0 away to Espanyol. Isi Palison and Pathe Ciss scored for Vallecano in the match which saw Rayo’s Florian Lejeune and Espanyol’s Sergi Gomez sent off in the first half.
An error from Valladolid keeper Sergio Asenjo gifted Sevilla a point in a 1-1 draw in Seville. Asenjo failed to control the ball, and Karim Rekik scored five minutes after Anuar Tuhami had given the promoted side an 80th-minute lead.
A touchline flare-up in the closing minutes saw Sevilla’s Marcos Acuna and Valladolid’s Jawad El Yamiq sent off.
Sunday sees Athletic Club Bilbao entertain Valencia, Atletico Madrid face Villarreal, and FC Barcelona visit to Real Sociedad.
(Inputs from IANS)