Fati fantastic for Koeman bow
Barca shine while Bayern feel the strain
ANSU FATI wasn’t even born the last time Ronald Koeman was on the books at the Nou Camp. The Dutchman, though, had plenty to thank the talented 17- year- old for as his brace helped ease Barcelona to a convincing victory on Koeman’s managerial bow.
This has been a troubled period for the Catalan club, what with Lionel Messi’s public unhappiness at the ongoing disruption behind the scenes and the decision to axe Quique Setien as manager and replace him with Koeman.
The former defender was a Barca stalwart during six years as a player and two as assistant coach in the 1990s but his managerial record of late – in particular an inauspicious and brief stint in charge of Everton – meant his appointment didn’t exactly have the socios going wild in celebration.
Koeman needed a strong start to buy himself some time and on Sunday night he got it as Villarreal were swept aside with contemptuous ease. Fati’s double, a Messi penalty and an own goal had Barcelona cruising by half- time and they coasted through the second half to get their league campaign up and running.
That won’t silence all the critics, of course. The decision to let Luis Suarez move to a major rival in Atletico was another decision questioned publicly by Messi and his former teammate soon showed why. Within 14 minutes after coming on for his debut against Granada, the Uruguayan had scored twice and set up another as Atletico racked up a 6- 1 victory in their own season opener.
Suarez and Diego Costa may prove to be the most unlikeable forward pairing in world football but there is a decent chance they will also quickly become one of the most effective.
And talking of players you love to hate, cantankerous defender Sergio Ramos scored for a 17th consecutive season through a Panenka penalty as Real Madrid came from behind to defeat Real Betis. Despite those defeats, Granada and Betis still lead the way at the top of La Liga with six points but with the big three quickly catching up.
There was the very rare sight of a Bayern Munich defeat in the Bundesliga at the weekend, and a heavy one at that as they went down 4- 1 to new league leaders Hoffenheim.
Perhaps in the first sign that their recent heavy workload is taking its toll – Bayern had been in action in Budapest in midweek against Sevilla in the Super Cup – Hansi Flick’s men couldn’t recover from a 2- 1 half- time deficit and lost two more goals in the second half.
As has often been the case in German football for the past decade or longer, however, neither of their two main title rivals could take advantage. Borussia Dortmund, surely the world’s most frustrating side, succumbed 2- 0 to unfancied Augsburg while RB Leipzig were held at Bayer Leverkusen. And that, in a nutshell, is why Bayern will almost certainly win their ninth consecutive Meisterschaft this season.
This weekend proved the end of the road for one manager, Schalke’s David Wagner getting the chop after following up the 8- 0 opening loss to Bayern with a 3- 1 reverse to Werder Bremen. Auf Wiedersehen, David.
There was another surprise of sorts in Italy with Juventus being held to a 2- 2 draw away to Roma despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s double. It was a much- needed morale booster for Paulo Fonseca’s side after Roma saw an opening- day point converted to a defeat after fielding an ineligible player.
In France, a double from Mauro Icardi helped PSG ease to a 2- 0 win over a Reims side for whom Scotland under- 21 Fraser Hornby forward was given a late cameo off the bench. The Ligue 1 leaders, though, are Rennes who won 3- 0 away to Saint- Etienne.