FOOTBALL La Liga honors terror victims
All soccer matches in Spain held a minute’s silence to honor victims as the Spanish league began a new season under the shadow of recent attacks in Barcelona and a nearby coastal town.
Sunday’s game in Barcelona became a focal point for a city insisting it won’t be afraid.
Barcelona beat Real Betis 2-0, while defending champion Real Madrid eased to a 3-0 victory at Deportivo La Coruna.
Barcelona’s players had the word “Barcelona” instead of their names on the back of their shirts, and the Catalan hashtag “TOTS SOMBARCELONA” (We are all Barcelona) was on display around the Camp Nou stadium. The message was also shown on the stadium’s large screens, as well as on many banners carried by fans.
An emotional minute’s silence was held before the game as the music of Catalan cellist Pau Casals played in the background.
Before the minute was up, the more than 55,000 fans at the stadium broke into a round of applause and began chanting “No tinc por” (I’m not afraid), a chant which has become a symbol of people’s reaction to the attacks that killed 14 people and injured more than 120 in Barcelona and the nearby seaside resort of Cambrils.
Without Neymar and the injured Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi thrived and led the Catalan club to its comfortable victory.
He came agonizingly close to scoring his 350th La Liga goal, but was denied by the woodwork three different times.
Barcelona scored goals three minutes apart near the end of the first half — an own-goal by Betis defender Alin Tosca and a close- range shot by Sergi Roberto.
Barcelona was coming off consecutive losses to Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final.
Meanwhile, Gareth Bale made the most of the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo by scoring one goal and setting up another to make sure Madrid got its title defense off to a winning start.
It was also an important opportunity for Bale to show that he should keep his spot in the starting 11 after Ronaldo completes the remaining three matches of his suspension for pushing a referee in the Spanish Super Cup. /