Author: Serg Atrakhov, Amrit Santlani
Barcelona – Cádiz – 2:0
After being held to a goalless draw in their opening La Liga game against Granada, Xavi’s Barcelona must have been feeling the heat to keep up with Real Madrid, who have won both of their league games. With renovation work underway at the Camp Nou, Barça hosted Cádiz at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.
Pedri had a glorious chance to put the home side ahead in the 14th minute, when the Spaniard appeared alone on the byline, but sent his header straight at Ledesma. Lamine Yamal had the next chance, the youngster made a great run and shot at the far post, but Ledesma made a great save to keep the score at 0-0.
Cádiz again had to thank their goalkeeper, who denied Kounde from close range to keep his side in contention, while the hosts turned the game around. The Cádiz players were guilty of missing good chances in the second half and were punished for it.
With just ten minutes to go, Ilkay Gundogan found Pedri with a brilliant pass and the Spaniard put Barça 1-0 ahead. Ferran Torres scored the second goal after a move from Robert Lewandowski, as the Blaugrana scored their first goal of the new campaign in the 94th minute.
Betis – Atlético – 0:0
The match at the Benito Villamarin stadium ended in a goalless draw. Incidentally, in 1982, during the World Cup, the Brazilian team played two matches in this arena. The Seleção beat Scotland (4:1) and New Zealand (4:0).
But let’s get back to the present. In 90 minutes of play, both teams managed to put the ball in the net just once – an attempt by the visitors. On four other occasions, Atlético shot off target. Betis put all 10 shots off target.
Brazilian Abner, who plays left-back for Betis, could have opened the scoring in the second minute, but he hit the right post. As his team didn’t concede a goal at the end, we can say that he had a good match. Incidentally, another Brazilian in the host team, Vililan José, entered the field in the 62nd minute, but wasn’t mentioned at all. Note that Ayoze Perez (twice) and Isco missed a good chance to put Betis ahead.
As part of the Madrid team, Brazilian Lino came off in the 65th minute. In the 94th minute, his shot was blocked by defenders (in addition, the side referee registered an offside).
Girona – Getafe – 3:0
Brazilian striker Sávio, 19, who was loaned to Troyes by Girona, spent 71 minutes on the pitch. It was after a pass from him, in the 12th minute, that Herrera opened the scoring.