Spanish football returns after a golden summer

In fact, there has been so much football over the past few months and so much Spanish success, that you’d be forgiven for thinking that we’ve barely been away. 

If you’re suffering from a case of football fatigue in the face of an ever expanding schedule, then perhaps spare a thought for Alex Baena. A starter on the final weekend of last season for his club, the Villarreal man went all the way with Spain at Euro 2024, did likewise at the Paris Olympics and still found himself in the starting lineup on matchday one of LaLiga 2024/25.

Impressive Mallorca deny Real Madrid as Mbappe makes LaLiga debut

After a few years where it has felt as though LaLiga has slightly lost its shine, with few genuine global superstars still around, the 2024/25 season has the potential to be the campaign where it firmly gets it back.

With Lamine Yamal, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham already emerging as three of the very brightest young talents in world football, LaLiga’s status is undoubtedly boosted by the arrival of Kylian Mbappe, surely the most significant summer arrival in Spain since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009.

The Frenchman made the dream start with a debut goal in the UEFA Super Cup last week, but got a taste for just how tough LaLiga can be as his new team were denied by an impressive Mallorca at Son Moix on Saturday.

On the back of a lengthy pre-season and six friendly wins from seven, Mallorca looked the sharper side for much of the game, perhaps not surprising given many of Real Madrid’s Euro stars played no part in their warm-up games in the United States.

The early signs for Jagoba Arrasate’s new team are certainly positive with Vedat Muriqi powering home a header to deservedly cancel out Rodrygo’s fine opener for Los Blancos.

Real Madrid will surely improve with more games, but if the pattern of Sunday’s match is to be repeated over the coming weeks, concerns about how they go about replacing Toni Kroos’ immense creative qualities and control in midfield will only grow louder.

First impressions of Flick’s Barca

If it’s too early to draw any firm conclusions about Real Madrid, the same is certainly true of Barcelona. A host of selection issues, particularly in midfield, contributed to new boss Hansi Flick naming three players under the age of 18 in his first LaLiga starting lineup.

In the end, it was an old head that got them out of a sticky situation at Mestalla though. Two goals from Robert Lewandowski, who is more than twice the age of Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsi and Marc Bernal, sealed a 2-1 comeback win after Hugo Duro’s opener for a Valencia side that had started brightly.

With 20-year-old Marc Casado also starting the game and with Barca’s legion of senior, attacking midfield options all unavailable, Flick would surely have been delighted to just come through matchday one, away at one of the most atmospheric grounds in Spain, with a victory.

An early two point advantage on the Madrid clubs would have come as an unexpected, but very welcome, bonus.

Depleted Girona dig deep

The expectation is that Girona, last season’s third place team, will fall much deeper into the pack this season having been severely weakened by the summer departures of the likes of Aleix Garcia, Artym Dovbyk, Savio, Yan Couto and Eric Garcia.

For 45 minutes at the Benito Villamarin on Thursday night, those fears only grew, as what was far from Real Betis’ best eleven dominated the game with a 1-0 lead thanks to Marc Bartra’s early goal.

Whatever Michel said to his team at half-time clearly did the trick though. Girona were much livelier after the break and encouragingly for their prospects of plugging some of those huge holes, it was two new faces who combined to level the game.

Gabriel Misehouy, a 19-year-old midfielder signed from Ajax but yet to even feature in the Dutch top flight, worked the ball wide to Iker Almena, a 20-year-old who was playing in the fifth tier with Girona’s B team last season.

With some quick feet and a turn of pace, Almena left his defender for dead, before cutting the ball back to Misehouy who earned a draw with a composed finish, just two minutes after his introduction.

A mixed picture for new arrivals and returning stars

One recurring theme on the opening matchday was the sight of new players and coaches beginning new chapters back in familiar settings.

We had Garcia Pimienta, who took charge of his first Sevilla game back in Gran Canaria against the Las Palmas side he had just departed. A very watchable encounter ended in a 2-2 draw. Both Pimienta and new Las Palmas coach Luis Carrion could reflect on positives, as well as areas for improvement.

The opening weekend concluded with Alexander Sorloth, last season’s Pichichi runner up, scoring on his Atletico Madrid debut back at the Estadio Ceramica where he wasn’t afforded the warmest of welcomes by the Villarreal fans. His headed goal from a fine Pablo Barrios cross wasn’t enough to prevent him being replaced at half-time by Diego Simeone though.

Julian Alvarez, LaLiga’s most expensive summer addition (if you’re willing to brush over the small matter of Mbappe’s signing on fee), also debuted for Atleti in the second half, but it was a game that ended level, along with five other matches on gameweek one.

Rayo Vallecano caused the only major upset, winning 2-1 away to Real Sociedad thanks to goals from Jorde de Frutos and Sergio Camello who had netted twice in the Olympics final only the previous weekend.

As for the newly promoted teams, it was a solid start for Leganes who drew 1-1 at El Sadar, not exactly the beginning that new Osasuna boss Vicente Moreno was hoping for. The other two new boys met at the Jose Zorrilla with Raul Moro’s goal settling a tight encounter between Real Valladolid and Espanyol in favour of the hosts.

After five days of action in the August heat, LaLiga pauses for breath, but not for long, with three more matchdays to squeeze in before the international break in the first week of September.