It began and ended with derbies, bookmarks in another riveting La Liga weekend.
The Madrid derby pressure pot provided the conclusion on Sunday night.
It was a match it was hard to take your eyes off, even if I found myself bewildered by the poor officiating of referee on too many occasions to remember.
Javier Alberola Rojas, the man in the middle at the Metropolitano, somehow failed to spot a foul on Jude Bellingham four minutes in and Atletico went straight up the pitch to take a lead through Alvaro Morata.
Rojas went on to miss a number of other fouls and even booked Luka Modric after the Croat veteran had politely suggested he could be wrong.
Such a display took away a bit from the Sunday night showdown which concluded with La Liga highlights for Atletico with a Morata double, and an Antoine Griezmann header, sealing a 3-1 victory.
Toni Kroos’ true quality brought Real back in the contest and, but for another questionable decision, they may have gone in level before the break.
Yet to concede just seconds after the restart, another Morata header from a quite delightful Saul Niguez ball, proved too big a gap to overcome as they slipped to their first defeat of 2023-24.
La Liga matchday six had all begun on Friday night and the Basque boys from Bilbao can certainly be pleased with how their season has begun.
A 2-0 win at newly promoted Alaves generated further momentum in the meeting between the sides from the Basque country.
Iñaki Williams and Oihan Sancet scored a goal in each half for the visitors, taking a 17th minute lead with a flowing team move sparked by Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta, who came off in the second half with a muscle injury.
The midfielder linked up with Mikel Vesga, who thread through a pass for Iñaki score his third goal of the season.
Athletic killed off the match with quarter of an hour remaining when Iñaki teed up Sancet, who curled a magnificent effort into the top-left corner from the edge of the box.
Bilbao have now taken 13 out of 15 points from their last five matches, a run which keeps them in the Champions League places for the rest of the weekend.
Girona are marvels as far as this SBOTOP observer is concerned and they briefly went to the summit on Saturday after putting five past newly promoted Mallorca.
The modest team from Spain’s northeastern Catalonia region has won five straight games since a season-opening draw with Real Sociedad.
After beating Granada 4-2 last time out, the side has now scored nine goals in its past two games.
Mallorca went ahead early through a fourth-minute penalty converted by Vedat Muriqi. But Girona roared back with goals by David López, Artem Dovbyk, Iván Martín, Yangel Herrera and Sávio before substitute Ábdon Prats reduced the deficit with a late brace to restore a modicum of pride.
The most dramatic game of the weekend came at the Nou Camp.
With nine minutes remaining, Celta Vigo we are in a prime position and seemed set for a superb victory to upset the La Liga betting odds.
What followed was either a fabulous comeback for the home side or a collapse from the visitors – probably a bit of both.
Goals from Jorgen Strand Larsen and Tasos Douvikas had put them in the ascendancy but two clinical finishes in the space of just four minutes from Robert Lewandowski rescued Barcelona’s hopes.
And Joao Cancelo completed the fightback as he met a Gavi ball and drilled a composed volley past Ivan Millar to spark joyous scenes amongst the home faithful.
The Dutch international was forced off after 36 minutes and is set to miss at least a month of action with an ankle sprain.
Despite Xavi manager hinting the club will not know how long de Jong will be out of action for until further tests are completed, early estimates hint at between five and seven weeks.
He is almost certain to miss the next four games, ahead of the October international break, with the home El Clasico against Real Madrid exactly five weeks away.
If that was the most dramatic game, the encounter between Real Sociedad and Getafe ran it close.
Getafe gave it a good go but ultimately did not have the quality to beat the Champions League outfit with a trio of second half goals from Mikel Oyarzabal (one a penalty) and Brais Mendez added to Takefus Kubo’s second minute opener for the hosts.
Carles Alena, Borja Mayoral (penalty) and Juanmi Latasa replied for Getafe, who brought on Man Utd loanee Mason Greenwood late on.
Almeria fought back twice to earn a 2-2 draw at Valencia on Saturday.
Diego Lopez’s early goal opened up a 1-0 lead for the visitors whose lead was restored by Javier Guerra but Sergio Arribas netted two second half equalisers to display the hosts’ belief.
The final word goes to newly promoted Las Palmas who overcame playing the final half hour with 10 men to not only hold on but gain a last gasp success against Granada. Kirian Rodriguez’s left footed shot from outside the box sealed their first win of the season and displayed real character – it could prove crucial come next May.
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