GOONERSGUIDE SPANISH LA LIGA NEWS SECTION

This is our Spanish La Liga news section where we provide any news items that might have a significant effect on the matches being played - or sports betting in general.

Spanish La Liga News :: Round One : Barcelona and Real Madrid slump to surprise defeats

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Posted on 2008-08-31 by Gooner

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Barcelona and Real Madrid both suffered surprise defeats on the opening weekend of the Primera Liga season.

Pep Guardiola's team dominated for long periods at newly-promoted Numancia but were undone by a defensive lapse after just 12 minutes, when Mario was left unmarked in the area and fired home what turned out to be the winner for Numancia.

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Madrid's 2-1 loss at Deportivo La Coruna was not quite so unexpected with the Spanish champions now without a league win at the Riazor since the 1992/93 season.

Alberto Lopo bagged the winner for the Galicians early in the second half, shortly after Ruud van Nistelrooy had cancelled out Mista's first-half strike.

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There were no such worries for city rivals Atletico Madrid, who thrashed sorry Malaga 4-0 at the Vicente Calderon.

The game was as good as over by half-time with Atletico racing into a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from centre-back John Heitinga, making his league debut following his summer transfer from Ajax, and a brace from striker Diego Forlan.

Florent Sinama-Pongolle then became the second summer signing to net for Javier Aguirre's side as he completed the scoring 10 minutes from time.

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Getafe left it late but ultimately got Victor Munoz's reign off to a winning start with a 2-1 triumph at newly-promoted Sporting Gijon.

Juan Albin opened the scoring for the visitors just before the quarter-hour mark and, although Diego Castro levelled matters 10 minutes before half-time, Javi Casquero's 86th-minute strike proved decisive for Getafe.

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Almeria also began life under a new coach - Gonzalo Arconada - with an impressive victory, 3-1 at Athletic Bilbao.

New signing Hernan Pellerano opened the scoring for the visitors in the seventh minute and Alvaro Negredo doubled their tally shortly after the half-hour mark before Juanma Ortiz sealed the victory five minutes into the second half.

Ion Velez pulled one back for Athletic six minutes later and when the hosts were awarded a penalty in the 67th minute it seemed as though a stunning comeback might be the cards but Almeria goalkeeper Diego Alves saved Fran Yeste's spot-kick.

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Marco Ruben scored the only goal of the game in the 36th minute as Recreativo Huelva prevailed 1-0 at Real Betis.

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Racing Santander missed a penalty through Ezequiel Garay but came back to earn a point against Sevilla when Juanjo cancelled out Luis Fabiano's opener.

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Osasuna came from a goal down to snatch a deserved point against Villarreal in a bad-tempered game which saw both sides finish with 10 men.

Marcos Senna put Villarreal - last season's runners-up - ahead with a stunning free-kick nine minutes after the break but Iran midfielder Javad Nekounam brought the home side level 15 minutes later from the penalty spot after his compatriot Masoud Shojaei had been fouled by Diego Godin.

Godin was shown a straight red card for the foul, but Osasuna were also reduced to 10 men eight minutes later when Miguel Flano was dismissed for an ugly challenge on Javi Venta.

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On Saturday, Valencia began their campaign with a resounding 3-0 victory over Real Mallorca at the Mestalla to extinguish the memory of their embarrassing Supercopa collapse against nine-man Real Madrid last weekend.

First-half headers from David Villa and Juan Manuel Mata put Los Che firmly in control before substitute Vicente poked home a third goal from close range seven minutes from time.

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Espanyol kicked off with a win for the first time in seven seasons as they beat Valladolid 1-0 through Luis Garcia's second-half strike.

 

Sourced From : Sportinglife.com

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