Decent reaction this week. Two La Liga wins in a row.
First a 2-1 victory over Villarreal at Camp Nou during midweek. Fun game in the first half. Excellent set piece for the opening goal, Messi delivering a corner and Griezmann got a header flick in off the crossbar at the near post. Arthur doubled the lead with a long range rocket that Asenjo only watched go past him without even making the effort to keep it out. Just before halftime though the Yellow Submarine halved the deficit as Cazorla was allowed too much space to approach, the defense is summed up perfectly when Griezmann was the one tracking back trying to block him. But it was a good long range shot, and Santi, who had eight ankle operations within a year and was out for over 600 days recently with his entire football career in doubt, got a standing ovation from the Camp Nou. Second half was forgettable, mostly due to Leo being forced out due to suffering another injury
and Ter Stegen was called into action more than once. But the first half scoreline remained.
The more satisfying result and performance was today, as Barca won 2-0 away to Getafe. Leo out, Dembele out, Fati out, but the team managed to register the first away win since April, as well as the first clean sheet in La Liga this season. Not what you would call a vintage Barcelona performance, but it felt like the boys were in control, not allowing Getafe much. Good result considering this team narrowly missed out on Champions League last season, finishing fifth. Ter Stegen ended up assisting Suarez who got himself one on one with Soria and chipped him for a late first half opener. Early in the second, Soria didn't deal well with De Jong's long range attempt so Junior, who is playing at left back in injured Alba's absence, tapped in the rebound for his first Barcelona goal. Looked comfortable holding on to the lead for the most part but Lenglet did a stupid thing near the end as he got sent off. Now with him suspended and Umtiti injured, it's inevitable that Todibo will play alongside Pique in our next La Liga game, which is a big one as Sevilla are coming to Camp Nou.
If there is one positive that happened from all these injuries, it's that some young talents have emerged. 16 year old Fati is already winning Camp Nou over with his displays, and his older academy colleague Perez is not too far behind him, working very hard and impressing as well. Clearly they are showing they can be counted on as the season progresses. Also, good thing Junior was bought as if anyone lacks competition in his position, it's Alba at left back. With him out, there was no need to place Roberto or anyone else there where they are not comfortable, but having someone natural there with some La Liga experience as well.
Atletico and Real played their derby this evening and it finished in a disappointing goalless draw. Overall Real had the initiative but there were few clear opportunities as I expected. For the third season in a row they delivered a 0-0 in one of their La Liga match ups. But this one is alright from our perspective as it got us a little closer to the top.
Nobody stands out. After Bilbao's loss at home to Valencia, Real Madrid are the only unbeaten team in Spain after seven games, however they drew three of them. Granada's dream start goes on. They just got promoted from Segunda in the summer but stand in 2nd place now, beating Barca, Espanyol and Celta all by more than a one goal margin and without conceding any goals in those games. Their next big test is next weekend as they will travel to Bernabeu in what would be the clash between the top two, unless Sociedad beat Sevilla at Sanchez Pizjuan tomorrow, then the Basque side would lead Real Madrid by a point.
Overall, this La Liga has started as tight as the previous one. Back then Sevilla were on top in November, but since that point Barcelona didn't take the foot off the gas for five months. It's going to be a lot tougher now considering the injury setbacks, particularly Messi not properly featuring yet as we are about to enter October, but wouldn't mind seeing that happen again. Regardless of what has happened recently in Europe, dominating La Liga is a big part of this generation's and the club's legacy and it's always one of the biggest goals.
For now though, the focus is on an important Champions League game on Wednesday. Going to host Inter. Hardest group as Dortmund are there too, so there is no room for any timing of form. And Conte's team are in great form at the moment, winning all of their Serie A games so far. Fortunately Slavia got a draw at Meazza two weeks ago so we are all at one point now...
