(Football news) La Liga had a rather interesting 1st gameweek with Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona all getting wins. 5 out of 10 games ended in a draw with 3 games being goalless.
FC Barcelona travel to Basque Country to take on Athletic Club at San Mames. Barcelona secured a thumping 4-2 win against Real Sociedad last week. New signings Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia gave impressive performances. Martin Braithwaite played some of his best football in a Barcelona shirt in the match as he scored two and created one against La Real. Athletic Club played out a goalless draw against Elche at home. Manager Marcelinho will be looking to get something out of the game but beating this Barcelona side won't be an easy task.
Yuri Berchiche, Peru Nolaskoain, Kenan Kodro, Inigo Cordoba and Alex Petxa will miss the game through injury, while Ander Capa remains a fitness doubt. Midfielder Raul Garcia's return from suspension is a big boost. As for Barcelona, Moussa Wague, Ansu Fati, Oscar Mingueza, Sergio Aguero, Ousmane Dembele and Marc-Andre ter Stegen are all still unavailable.
Atletico Madrid are all set to host Elche after a controversial away win at Celta Vigo. Mario Hermoso is out of the game with suspension while Joao Felix and Felipe are yet to recover from their injuries. Atletico Madrid haven't lost to Elche since 2002 and it would take a masterclass for Elche to salvage a point from the game. Luis Suarez who came from the bench against Celta Vigo is expected to lead the line alongside Angel Correa.
Real Madrid have been in the turmoil of transfer rumours. Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Eduardo Camavinga have all been linked with a move to the Bernabeu along with the club's record goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo. The situation went a little out of hand when both Carlo Ancelotti and Ronaldo had to release statements on Social media denying the rumours. Amidst all this Real Madrid have been handed many positives. Their thumping win away at Deportivo Alaves showed signs of the return of Attacking football at the club. Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard both gave their best performances since the past 2 seasons. New signing David Alaba has settled in the side and looked impressive against Alaves while Karim Benzema picked up from where he left off last season with a brace.
Eden Hazard has some not so good memories at Levante's Ciutat de València two seasons ago when Real Madrid lost. Eden Hazard broke his ankle just after his recovery and was on the sidelines for months to come. According to reports Hazard's ankle has been completely healed and the Belgian is in his best physical shape. After a successful first game of the season Hazard will be keen on getting himself a goal and a 90 minute game under his belt.
