If Real Madrid season began with some doubts first with a tie and then with a victory 2-3, the other 2 candidates for winning the league, Barcelona and Atletico de Madrid couldn't have started better. Barcelona attacking players were Messi, Griezmann, Coutinho, and Ansu Fati who is just 17 years old although he turns 18 in a matter of days.
Ansu Fati was undoubtedly the best player in the pitch, he scored the first 2 goals with assists from Alba and Coutinho, and he also received the penalty fault that Messi would later score for the third goal. He played his best match and certainly seems like a promising player for the present as well as the future.
Villarreal wasn't even able to cause some danger in Barcelona's penalty box, they were unable to do a good match and the team was completely outclassed by Barcelona. I was expecting a much more even match especially because Barcelona has been suffering from several issues, but this didn't seem to affect the team, or at least Ansu Fati and Coutinho who were the best ones.
Messi played OK but I noticed he wasn't as spontaneous as before, maybe this happened because this is the first match but I think playing with Coutinho, Messi, and Griezmann will inevitably cause 2 of them to feel uncomfortable, the 3 has the same preferred position in the pitch. Griezmann, on the other hand, still seems lost. Ever since he arrived at Barcelona he hasn't played in his position and today he was the worst attacking player for Barcelona.
Barcelona defensive players were good but the truth is they weren't challenged enough by Villarreal attacking players, the goalkeeper had a super easy match today. Barcelona fans couldn't be happier after having a horrible summer when even Messi said he wanted to leave. I think that with results such as this one, Messi is very happy to have stayed.
Atletico de Madrid was even better than Barcelona today. They won 6-1 against Granada and the best part for them is that their new striker, Luis Suarez who previously played in Barcelona, scored 2 goals and gave 1 assist in just 20 minutes. This is one of the best debuts ever for a striker in Atletico de Madrid. Joao Felix had an excellent match and the entire team feels super fresh and with a lot of confidence.
I think Suarez given his warrior-like personality will be a great addition to Atletico. Suarez and Costa could easily be one of the most fearsome strikers duos in Europe, and with Simeone yelling at the team for the entire 90 minutes they would be like crazy bulls on the pitch and a nightmare for a lot of defensive players.
After this week, out of the 3 biggest Spanish clubs, the one that left me with the most doubts was Real Madrid, the League champions of the previous season. Real Madrid had just 2 matches so far, and Barcelona and Atletico 1 match so there is still a long way to go. However, I wouldn't be surprised if the betting websites currently had Real Madrid as the least likely to be the new champion.
The next LaLiga matches will be played Wednesday and Thursday. The next match I will watch is tomorrow, Liverpool vs Arsenal.
Cheers and thanks for reading!