Rival Watch: Favourites stumble in low-scoring opening weekend

Rival Watch: Favourites stumble in low-scoring opening weekend

FC Barcelona one of just five teams to take three points as Real Madrid, Valencia and Sevilla are all held 0-0 on the road

[[DES_1]]On a remarkably low-scoring opening weekend in La Liga, in which more than half the teams failed to score a single goal, Barça, who won 1-0 at Athletic Club Bilbao, were handed an early bonus when three of the traditionally stronger sides in the competition were held to goalless draws.

Despite piling on the pressure for 90 minutes, Real Madrid were unable to break the deadlock away to newly promoted Sporting Gijón, while Rayo Vallecano goalkeeper Toño was the hero as Valencia also had to settle for a point on the road in their first outing of la Liga 2015/16.

And there was no score either in the Andalusian derby at La Rosaleda, where Sevilla looked a far cry from the team that put four goals past Barça in the European Super Cup. They finished with ten men after Nzonzi was sent off at Málaga, who will be the first Liga guests at the Camp Nou next Saturday. Speaking about that tie, Málaga’s Argentinian defender Marcos Angeleri described beating FC Barcelona as “not impossible, but certainly very difficult … They’re the best team in the world, as they showed last year.”

With Deportivo versus Real Sociedad producing yet another no-score draw and Betis and Villarreal tying 1-1, Barça are one of just five teams to have taken three points from their opening match. Atlético Madrid and Espanyol won 1-0 at home to Las Palmas and Getafe respectively, and Celta won 2-1 away to Levante.

We had to wait until Monday night for the first team to win a game by more than one goal, and that honour went to Eibar, who won 3-1 at Granada and as a result are the unlikely leaders of la Liga after the first round of matches.

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Força Barça
Força Barça

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