Real Sociedad cruise to the top of the table beating Real Betis with ease. Luis Suarez finally found the back of the net for Atleti as Simeone’s side won their first game after 2 goalless draws. Barcelona dropped points, but Real Madrid failed to capitalize as they succumbed to La Liga new comers Cadiz in a home game. This and all you need to know, in FootTheBall’s La Liga match report of Game week 6.
Celta Vigo 0-2 Atletico Madrid
Image Courtesy: Twitter/ @atleti
Atletico Madrid finally got it right in La Liga after a 2-0 win following successive goalless draws with Villareal and Huesca.
Simeone’s men visiting Celta Vigo were confident and opened the game with an early Luis Suarez goal in the 6th minute itself. This time had lined up 4-4-2 with Diego Costa and Luis Suarez both in the starting eleven and Joao Felix left out. This aggressiveness with two proper number nines is perhaps what helped them score early on.
The home side had lined up 5-3-2 and were seemingly keen to focus on defending against the Red-Whites. Captain Iago Aspas and Santi Mina were leading the attack. They managed a total of five shots on target, but no goal.
With this defeat, Celta Vigo fell to 17th position, only to heap more pressure on coach Oscar Garcia, whose side has just five points after six matches.
Atletico meanwhile performed fairly well as Yannick Carasco doubled their lead late in stoppage time. They now stand 8th in the La Liga table and look forward to their upcoming Champion’s League fixtures.
Getafe 1-0 Barcelona
A shocking result for the Catalans as they succumbed to Getafe in an away game.
Ahead of the Clasico and Champion’s League, this is a setback for Ronald Koeman and his men who had been looking at some experimentation.
Koeman this time had played new signing Sergino Dest as starting left-back in the 4-2-3-1. He had also given a chance to midfielder Pedri Lopez and Ousmane Dembele alongside Lionel Messi. Antoine Greizmann this time playing on the top as a striker.
Getafe had lined up 4-4-2 with Jaime Mata and Juan Hernandez starting on top.
The goal came from a 56th-minute penalty that Frenkie De Jong had given away for his foul on Djene Dakonam in the box. The penalty was easily scored by Mata who sent Barca goalkeeper Neto Morura the wring way.
Apart from the goal, the game from Barcelona’s end was not up to the mark. With just one shot on target, their attack struggled to make a difference.
❝We want to start the @ChampionsLeague on the right foot.❞
— @RonaldKoeman on the big week ahead for Barça pic.twitter.com/pTi9cyEqMn— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 19, 2020
This is not a positive sign and Koeman needs to set things on track with several big games coming up in the next few weeks.
Real Madrid 0-1 Cadiz
Barcelona dropped points but Real Madrid could not make the best of that. They too lost their home game to newly promoted side Cadiz by a goal.
Anthony Lozano scored in the 16th minute itself with a beautiful header over keeper Thibaut Courtois.
Having started the game 4-3-3 with Lucas Vasquez, Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr, Zinedine Zidane made a halftime change to bring on Luca Jovic.
The striker however failed to make a difference. Karim Benzema also missed the chance to equalize after he hit the post. Even Vinicius missed an open header in the second half causing Madrid to drop points in an easy fixture.
Their attacking was just as flimsy as Barcelona’s and managed just 2 shots on target in the whole of 90 minutes. Despite maintaining possession, Zidane could not play aggressively and struggled to make the ball progress up the field.
The defence too was not in the best shape and Cadiz managed a surprising total of 14 shots despite just 25% possession. This is a sign of rusty defending and vulnerability to counter attacks.
The Clasico should now be a reminder for the Los Blancos to pull up their socks and get back in the game. For as highlighted in the La Liga match report, this week had been sloppy for both, Barcelona as well as Madrid.
Fromer Champions Real Madrid are now third in the La Liga table with 10 points from 5 games. Barcelona on the contrary have played one game less and are far behind on the 9th position, with just 7 points.
Other results and League Table
1⃣ @RCDEspanyol (13 points) 💙
2⃣ @RealSporting (13 points) ❤️
3⃣ @cffuenlabradaen (12 points) 💙
4⃣ @RayoVallecano (12 points) ⚡️It couldn't be closer at the top of #LaLigaSmartBank! 🌟 pic.twitter.com/xVbgroLvkK
— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) October 19, 2020
(Feature Image Courtesy: Twitter/ @Atleti)