Barcelona missed two points at the opening of its season in the Spanish Football League, after a negative draw against Rayo Vallecano in the first phase of the competitions at its stadium in the Camp Nou, on Saturday.
This is the third time in a row that Barcelona has failed to win over its rival, as the last two matches ended with Rayo Vallecano winning 1-0.
Barcelona has high hopes for the current season, after it was the undisputed star of the summer transfer market, and therefore hopes that the new contracts will contribute to bridging the gap with Real Madrid after it ended last season 13 points behind.
The Catalan club concluded a series of remarkable contracts, including the deadly Polish striker Robert Lewandowski, who arrived from Bayern Munich, and participated as a key player in the opening meeting.
The Leeds United winger also joined the Brazilian Rafinha and Ivory Coast Franck Kissier from AC Milan, while he strengthened his defense by signing French Jules Conde and Danish Andreas Christensen. Comply with the spending restrictions imposed by the Spanish League on the club.
Villarreal kicked off the new season of the Spanish Football League with a great victory over its host Valladolid, returning to the ranks of the first division, 3-0 in the opening stage on Saturday, which also witnessed a dramatic tie between Espanyol and its host Celta Vigo 2-2.
In the first match, which was held at the Stadio Nuovo Jose Zorrilla, the “Yellow Mills” team, which finished seventh last season to qualify to participate in the Conference League that crowned Rome with the title of its first edition, managed to score its first three points this season thanks to the goals of Senegalese Nicholas Jackson. (49) and Alex Baena (81 and 90).
Valladolid returned to “La Liga” after finishing second in the second division last season.
Villarreal temporarily took the lead on goal difference from Osasuna, who officially opened the “La Liga” season on Friday, beating Sevilla 2-1.
In the second match, while Celta Vigo was heading to victory thanks to two goals scored by veteran Iago Aspas (45 + 2) and Portuguese Gonzalo Paciencia (63), Eduardo Exposito managed to reduce the result for Espanyol (72), before the Catalan team received a fatal penalty after returning to the technique The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in the fourth minute of extra time after a foul by Oscar Mingueza on Joselo, who successfully took the kick (90+8).
Espanyol came out with an expensive point, while Celta Vigo lamented the loss of three points at hand that would have put them equally in the lead.
Real Madrid will start the campaign to defend their title as a guest of Almeria on Sunday, and the stage will conclude on Monday, when Atletico Madrid will visit Getafe.
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