On Friday the 11th August, La Liga officially kicked off for the 2023/24 campaign, with a mid-table clash between Almería and Rayo Vallecano in the southern Spanish city.
It signalled the beginning of another 10 months of action and drama as Xavi’s Barcelona will look to defend their title, while Real Madrid will aim to snatch it once more and take it to the Bernabeu.
A busy summer has seen all La Liga teams recruit, with Carlo Ancelotti’s Los Blancos the big spenders in the off-season. Jude Bellingham, Fran Garcia and Arda Güler have all been signed permanently, with Joselu and Kepa Arrizabalaga also joining the 14 times Champions League winners.
Despite the spending of Real Madrid, elsewhere the league found itself in a position of financial turmoil. As of midday on Friday, Barcelona had registered none of their new recruits, and only had 12 players registered, one of which was Ousmane Dembele who had already joined Paris St-Germain.
The situation was no better elsewhere, with just 34 players of the 90 transferred into Spanish clubs registered to be able to play. However, with the triggering of various ‘palancas’ and after much debate as to the current situation of the Spanish game, the football finally kicked off.
This article will take you through the weekend of action as Rayo Vallecano triumphed in their post-Iraola era while the kids of Valencia beat Sevilla, and Getafe’s José Bordalás along with his club staff launched a minor pitch invasion during their draw with Barcelona.
The scores on the doors
Almería 0-2 Rayo Vallecano
Rayo Vallecano began the 2023/24 season with a fresh face in the dugout, after Andoni Iraola left to take charge of Bournemouth in the Premier League, with Francisco brought into replace him.
First up for Francisco was Almería, his former playing and managerial side at various points in his career. Courtesy of two spot kicks, Rayo Vallecano were off to their dream start.
For the first penalty, Randy Nteka was fouled after suffering a high boot to the midriff. Isi Palazón converted the subsequent spot kick to open Rayo’s goalscoring accounts for the season. Eight minutes later, another penalty was given with Palazón helping to win it while Nteka turned into the converter, sending Almería goalkeeper Diego Mariño the wrong way.
For Rayo, the new season represents a chance to improve on their 11th placed position of last year, while Almería will be expected to once again be in the relegation battle.
Sevilla 1-2 Valencia
For Jose Luis Mendilibar, the end of last season could hardly have gone any better with a Europa League final victory in Budapest and an eventual 12th-placed finish, after the season had previously looked much more threatening for the Andalusian side.
However, Mendilibar clearly still has his work cutout. Valencia took the lead on the stroke of the hour mark when Mouctar Diakhaby finished André Almeida’s cross first time to send the ball past Bono.
It took just nine minutes for Los Rojiblancos to equalise when Youssef En-Nesyri latched onto a superb Suso cross to head the ball firmly into the back of the net. Despite Sevilla dominating the ball and creating chances, the game would not go in their way and when Valencia’s in-on-goal Hugo Duro was pulled down by Loïc Badé, Sevilla were down to ten men.
Seven minutes later, it was another error which cost Sevilla the game, this time from 36 year-old Jesus Navas. The former Man City player was robbed of possession in Sevilla’s defensive third, leaving Javi Guerra to score the winning goal.
With Sevilla targeting much more than 12th placed finishes, a big improvement is needed for the seven times Europa League winners to realise the fans' expectations. Meanwhile, Friday evening’s result represents a positive start for Valencia in what promises to be a difficult season.
Real Sociedad 1-1 Girona
Saturday’s action began at the Anoeta where Champions League-qualified Real Sociedad took on Girona. Imanol Alguacil’s side took the lead in the 5th minute when Aihen Muñoz cut out David Lopez’s pass before running half of the length of the field down the left flank to play an excellent low cross across the box, where Takefuso Kubo lay in wake to place the ball into the back of the net and past a motionless Paulo Gazzaniga.
Sociedad continued to threaten with Oyarzabal having the best chance to double their lead when he was slid through by Bryce Mendez. However, the forward failed to get a strong connection and it was a comfortable save for the former Tottenham goalkeeper.
Minutes later, Girona levelled when their new signing Alexander Dovbyk headed in Viktor Tsyhankov’s cross to claim their first point of the season.
Las Palmas 1 -1 UCD Mallorca
On Las Palmas’ return to La Liga, the Canary Island-based side welcomed fellow island club UCD Mallorca. For the Mallorcan fans, it was a 4956km round trip to the Canaries, the longest away journey they will have to make all season.
Las Palmas were the first to the lead when former Everton player Sandro won a penalty after being on the receiving end of a late challenge from José Copete. After a lengthy VAR check, Jonathan Viera smashed the ball into the roof of the net giving his side the lead.
Minutes later, the debuting referee, Guillermo Fernandez, gave another penalty. This time it was in Mallorca’s favour, however, Vedat Muriqi failed to convert the spot kick. Mallorca eventually equalised when on the stroke of the 70th minute, Antonio Arenas rose the highest to head home from a corner.
For Las Palmas, the aim will be to stay in the league this year. Meanwhile, Mallorca will have a difficult job improving their 9th-placed finish of last season.
Ahead of Real Madrid’s opening game in the league, there was much debate surrounding the formation of the side, without Karim Benzema to lead the line. Ancelotti settled on a 4-4-2 diamond with Aurelien Tchoumeni, Eduard Camavinga, Fede Valverde and Jude Bellingham playing in the middle of the park, with the latter featuring just behind the two marksmen of Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo.
The system worked well and within 30 minutes, Rodrygo had put the Madrid side up. A brief interchange of passes saw Rodrgyo receive the ball from Carvajal before planting it firmly beyond Unai Simón in goal.
Eight minutes later, Jude Bellingham followed in the footsteps of fellow Englishman, David Beckham, when he scored on his debut for the club. The former Borussia Dortmund midfielder first time volleyed David Alaba’s corner to double his side’s advantage at San Mames.
The only dampener for Ancelotti and his players was when Eder Militao tore his anterior cruciate ligament, just two days after it was announced that Thibaut Courtois was out for the season with the same injury.
For Athletic, this season represents the uphill task of trying to break into Europe, while Los Blancos will target nothing less than the title.
Celta Vigo 0-2 Osasuna
With Rafa Benitez’s appointment at Celta Vigo, expectations went up a notch. However, a difficult first game against Europa Conference League side Osasuna saw Vigo lose at home.
A narrow encounter saw two rebounded efforts fly in for Osasuna to give them all three points. Ruben Garcia put Osasuna in front after Ante Bidimir’s header was cleared off the line, and despite Vigo threatening to level the tie, it was Osasuna who doubled their advantage.
Ruben Peña twisted one way and then the other before seeing his shot ricochet off the post, however, his effort was not in vain as it fell to Moi Gómez who made no mistake with the follow up, giving Osasuna a first away win of the season.
Villarreal 1-2 Real Betis
Sunday afternoon’s match between Villarreal and Real Betis represented a clash between the two Europa League qualifying sides. The game arguably had the best goalmouth action of the weekend, with three well-taken goals.
For both sides, it represented new eras. For Villarreal, the core of their side has dramatically changed after Pau Torres, Nicolas Jackson, Giovani Lo Celso and Samuel Chukwueze all left the club.
Los Beticos took the lead inside the opening thirty minutes when much heralded new signing Isco played a well-weighted ball down the right-hand side to Luis Enrique, who skilfully turned past Alberto Moreno to play the ball across for Ayoze Perez to finish.
The game continued to be open and on the 61st minute, the home side levelled, when 22-year-old Alejandro Baena played in an excellent set-piece for Jorge Cuenca to head in.
However, the game was not over yet. Deep into stoppage time, a long ball found its way to Youssouf Sabaly who crossed it in for Willian Jose to pounce onto and send a diving header past Filip Jórgensen in goal.
Sunday’s game arguably represented a pre-cursor for the season to come, with both sides likely to be in competition with one another for the Champions League places.
Getafe 0-0 Barcelona
Last season represented a promising campaign for both sides, with safety secured by José Bordalás for Getafe on his return to the club which he previously took from second bottom in the Segunda all the way to the brink of Champions League qualification.
Meanwhile, the previous campaign at Barcelona saw the Catalan side secure the title despite all of the financial turmoil, finishing ten points ahead of Real Madrid.
Sunday’s game despite being the first of the season was fiercely contested. Barcelona struggled to break down Getafe, who ran down the clock and piled men behind the ball.
Frustration eventually got the better of Barcelona, with Raphinha sent off for a nasty elbow attempt as he tried to reach the ball, which in turn triggered a minor pitch invasion from Bordalás and his staff in a successful attempt to influence the referee to dismiss the Brazilian winger.
Just 12 minutes into the second half, it was the second dismissal of the day when Jaime Mata picked up his second yellow card inside 60 minutes.
Barcelona continued to try and break the Madrid based side down, with Oriel Romeu and Ilkay Gundogan looking lively in the middle of the park.
In stoppage time, the game reached new controversial heights when Juan Iglesias clumsily kicked Ronald Aruajo to the floor in the box. Following a VAR check, the referee refused to give a spot kick due to a Gavi handball in the build-up, Xavi disagreed and made that clear to the fourth official, which saw him receive the third and final red card of the game.
While Barcelona failed to score, the Catalan club showed signs of quality, however, the Blaugrana will not be able to drop too many points if they want to secure back to back titles.
Cádiz 1-0 Alavés
The first of the Monday action saw Alavés make the trip to the southern Spanish city of Cádiz in their return to La Liga.
A narrow contest saw the decisive goal scored in the seventh minute when a dangerous in-swinging cross was put into the box to be headed in by Fede San Emeterio at the near-post.
Chances were few and far between at the Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla, with Ruben Duarte's two long range efforts the best efforts from Alavés.
As Cádiz closed out a victory, a dangerous high boot from Gonzalo Escalante on Kike García saw El Submarino Amarillo end the game with ten men.
Atlético Madrid 3-1 Granada
Ahead of the final game of matchweek one, the debate surrounded Diego Simeone's side and how likely they are to continue their impressive run of form from last season which saw them claim 43 points after the Qatar World Cup, more than any other side.
Meanwhile for Granada, Monday's tie represented what was likely to be one of their more challenging games of the season.
Atlético started well, and eventually in the stoppage time of the first half found the breakthrough when the ball fell to Alvaro Morata in the box who made no mistake, finishing it calmy beyond André Ferreira.
However, Granada were not down and out, with the side equalising in the 62nd minute after Carrasco lost the ball to Gonzalo Villar who fizzed the ball into the box to find Samu. Samu smashed the ball past Oblak to claim an equaliser against the run of play.
However, the game was not level for long with Atlético's quality eventually showing when Memphis Depay equalised on the 68th minute for one of the potential goals of the season. The Dutch forward received the ball from Carrasco well outside the box before setting himself and belting the ball goalwards and into the top corner.
In the 98th minute, it was Atlético's turn to win the ball high up the field, with the ball eventually falling to Marcos Llorente who dinked it past Ferreira to finish the game.
For Atlético, Monday's opener represents a good start to what Simeone hopes will be a fruitful season, while for Granada, the tie illustrated the quality of the La Liga opponents they will face.
The ‘of the weeks’
Goal of the week: Memphis Depay, Atletico Madrid vs Granada, an excellent long-range goal from Depay gave Atlético the lead with the effort likely to be an early goal of the season contender.
Fact of the week: The total match time for Sevilla-Valencia on Friday night was 106:02, yet the ball was only in play for 44% of it (46:50). Influencing factors included team styles, the temperature in Seville and the high number of fouls. {Credit: lapausa_pod (Twitter)}
Skill of the week: Vincíus Junior vs Athletic, a superb turn from Madrid’s latest superstar took two Bilbao defenders out of the game before going round a third to force Unai Simón into a good save.