Barcelona thrash Real Madrid 5-1 with Lopetegui axed
A Luis Suárez hat-trick helped BARCELONA inflict a 5-1 thrashing on REAL MADRID in El Clásico at the Camp Nou, after which Los Blancos decided to part company with coach Julen Lopetegui. Philippe Coutinho got the ball rolling for Barca on 11 minutes when tapping home a Jordi Alba cut-back from down the left, while the lead was doubled on the half-hour mark when Suárez converted from the spot after VAR ruled Raphael Varane had fouled him in the box. Madrid came out with more intent after the break and reduced the arrears in the 50th minute as Marcelo poked the ball past Marc-André ter Stegen. Luka Modric then hit a post for the visitors but Ernesto Valverde’s men restored the two-goal cushion 15 minutes from time, Suárez heading home a Sergi Roberto cross. The Uruguayan claimed his hattrick eight minutes later, breaking free and delicately lifting the ball over Thibaut Courtois, and the rout was complete in the 87th minute as Arturo Vidal headed in an Ousmane Dembele cross to seal an emphatic win and cement the Catalans’ position at the top.
GIRONA moved into the top half of the table with a 2-1 home victory over RAYO VALLECANO. Girona took the lead 10 minutes before half-time from the penalty spot, Portu firing home after Álex Gálvez had upended Anthony Lozano, and the midfielder celebrated his second a minute before the break to make it 2-0. Gálvez did his best to atone for his earlier mistake when halving the deficit on the hour, but it was not enough to lift Rayo out of the relegation places.
ESPANYOL conceded a stoppage time goal to draw 1-1 at VALLADOLID and passed up the opportunity to go second in the table after 10 rounds of fixtures. Striker Borja Iglesias put them ahead on 19 minutes with a powerful shot from long range and they looked to be on course to take all three points. However, Italian forward Daniele Verde popped up a minute into injury time to draw La Pucela level with a free-kick. Promoted Valladolid, in the meantime, remain in the European places.
ATHLETIC BILBAO and VALENCIA played out a 0-0 bore draw at San Mamés. No top tier side has won fewer games than the pair – each with just one win – and it showed as both teams struggled to create any meaningful chances on a day to forget in the Basque country. The result sees both still stuck in the bottom half of the standings, with Valencia in 14th place and Athletic two behind.
CELTA VIGO eased to a 4-0 win over EIBAR at Balaídos thanks to a hat-trick from Iago Aspas. The former Liverpool striker opened his account just four minutes into the contest and grabbed a second on 35 minutes. Brais Méndez added a third 10 minutes into the second period before Aspas completed his hattrick nine minutes from time as the Galicians move to within three points of the European places.
LEVANTE are up to seventh after a hard-fought 2-0 home win over LEGANÉS. Roger Martí gave the hosts a 14th-minute lead in driving rain at the Ciutat de Valencia, but it was the Madrid side that created most of the openings for the rest of the game, Youssef En-Nesyri, Diego Rolán and Nabil ElZhar all wasting decent opportunities. Levante made them pay for their profligacy in stoppage time, Rubén Rochina making sure of the points following a swift counter-attack.
ATLÉTICO MADRID got back to winning ways after their Champions League defeat to Borussia Dortmund with a comfortable 2-0 success over REAL SOCIEDAD at the Wanda Metropolitano. It took Atleti until just before half-time to break the deadlock when Diego Godín smashed the ball in from close range, and within 15 minutes of the restart Filipe Luis doubled the lead when curling home from the edge of the box to leave Diego Simeone’s team two points behind leaders Barcelona.
A last-gasp winner saw ALAVÉS move up to the dizzy heights of second place with a memorable 2-1 win over VILLARREAL at Mendizorrotza. The Yellow Submarine drew first blood in the ninth minute when Santi Cazorla and Alfonso Pedraza combined to set up Gerard Moreno, who finished with aplomb. But, in torrential rain, Jonathan Calleri headed home a Jony freekick five minutes into the second half to level the scores. Just when it seemed the sides would have to settle for a share of the spoils, Borja Bastón found the net in the 93rd minute to send the Vitoria outfit one point behind Barcelona. Villarreal, meanwhile, continue to disappoint and are just a point above the drop zone.
SEVILLA maintained their title push with a 2-1 win over bottom club HUESCA at the Sánchez Pizjuán. After Daniel Carrico and André Silva had first half efforts ruled offside by VAR, Pablo Sarabia got the breakthrough after an hour when adding the finishing touch to Wissam Ben Yedder’s cross. Sarabia managed a second 15 minutes later as he slotted past Aleksandar Jovanovic to ease any nerves, although Huesca netted a consolation deep into injury time after Jorge Pulido got on the end of Moi Gómez’s cross, but it was too little too late for the away team, who have registered just one win in the opening 10 fixtures.
REAL BETIS were brought back to reality following their midweek Europa League win over AC Milan as they suffered a setback by going down to a 2-0 loss at GETAFE. The Madrid side dominated in the first half and the Andalusians were perhaps fortunate to go in at the break with the game scoreless, but the Getafe pressure finally paid off just before the hour mark when Jorge Molina had the simplest of tasks in tapping home an Ángel Rodríguez cross from close range. Just two minutes later, on-loan Watford full-back Dimitri Foulquier made it two when finding his way through the Betis defence to seal a deserved victory.