Real Madrid 3-1 Barcelona
Real Madrid have returned to the top of La Liga thanks to a hard earned victory in the El Clasico in front of a packed and deafening crowd at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Vinicius Junior had just had a shot saved when Benzema lashed home the opener with only 12 minutes on the clock. The Blaugrana pushed for an equaliser but they were two down at the break after Federico Valverde fired a beauty into the bottom corner, from just outside the penalty area, for his fourth goal of the campaign.
Barca beat Los Blancos in a pre-season El Clasico and they had dominated the first half of this match with 60 per cent possession and eight shots to four; and that pattern continued in the second period. Robert Lewandowski saw his header brilliantly saved by Los Blancos keeper Andriy Lunin, and the Polish scoring sensation had a hand in Barca’s 83rd minute goal, setting up Ferran Torres for his strike which made it a tense last ten minutes.
But the Bernabeu erupted again when Barca’s Eric Garcia conceded a penalty on 91 minutes. With Benzema substituted, Rodrygo, who had just been on the pitch for five minutes, coolly slotted the spot kick home.
The latest La Liga 2022 betting odds have been backing a title win for the Catalans but this result puts Los Blancos three points clear and back into pole position.
Griezmann is back home
Athletic Bilbao 0-1 Atletico Madrid
In other La Liga 2022 news, Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid leapfrogged Athletic Bilbao into third place thanks to a backs-to-the-wall performance to deny their hosts, who registered 13 shots to Atleti’s three. My SBOTOP colleague said Los Leones would not lie down for Atleti and he was right on the money as the hosts dominated possession as well as the shot count. It was a classic Simeone one goal win, and a familiar face was smiling at the end of the game.
Antoine Griezmann has just signed a contract to keep him at the Wanda Metropolitano until 2026 and that will be a weight off his shoulders after a frustrating start to the campaign during which he was still a Barcelona player. He left Los Rojiblancos in 2019 in a £103m deal but things have not worked out for him at the Camp Nou and now he’s back home where he is loved.
Griezmann scored with Atleti’s only effort on target, a clinical finish with an assist for Alvaro Morata; it was the Frenchman’s 100th goal for Atleti over his two stints at the club and he is now Los Rojiblancos’ fourth highest scorer of all time.
Sampaoli’s Sevilla are showing real fight
Mallorca 0-1 Sevilla
Following the departure of head coach Julen Lopetegui, Jorge Sampaoli was back in the hot seat at Sevilla in an instant and he faced a tough introduction in his first three games. First the struggling side faced up to high flying Athletic Bilbao and won a hard earned point in a 1-1 draw. Los Sevillistas pulled off another 1-1 away to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League and then, on Saturday, they picked up their first three points under the new boss with a battling victory away to Mallorca.
Sampaoli’s team had the lion’s share of possession but while keeper Bono had a busy afternoon, making five saves, Sevilla scored with their only shot on target of the game; and it was a beauty. When Isco teed up Nemanja Gudelj the Serbian midfielder hammered an unstoppable right footer into the top left corner.
Cool Cavani so good for Los Ches
Valencia 2-2 Elche
Edinson Cavani has been one of the best forwards in world football over the past 15 years, striking up a brilliant partnership with Luis Suarez while bagging 58 goals in 133 appearances for Uruguay; and now he’s plying his trade with Valencia.
The 35 year old striker is still a class act and he scored his 272nd and 273rd career goals to give Los Ches a point. Pere Milla gave Elche a lead on the half hour from the penalty spot and when Valencia had a similar opportunity Cavani stroked the spot kick home, low into the bottom left hand corner. And the Uruguayan hit man made it 2-1, in the last minute of the first half, meeting an Andre Almeida cross with a thundering header into the roof of the net. In those two goals Cavani showed the finesse and power which has characterised his long career.
But he was matched by Milla as the Elche man powered his header into the top corner to grab the hosts a draw.
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