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Euro Bites: Las Palmas lead the way, Real/Barca keep pace while Atletico flop

The second week of LaLiga fixtures has been completed and while you probably could’ve guessed two of the three sides on maximum points, not many would have had Las Palmas as leaders - even at this early stage. Atletico Madrid, the usual name in the title race, sit four points adrift of the leaders after another disappointing result against a promoted side.

THE WINNERS

Las Palmas’ Prince becomes a King

What a job Quique Setien has done at Las Palmas. His appointment was met with apathy from the majority of supporters as he replaced fan favourite Paco Herrera last October. Almost a year on and he’s one of the most respected and impressive coaches in the division who turned down chances to move elsewhere this summer. And his side, when in full flow, are an absolute joy. As Sid Lowe would say: “It’s just like watching Brazil.”

Kevin-Prince Boateng arrived on the island of Gran Canaria with a lot to prove after a stop-start career, but there was hope he’d rediscover his best form at the club. The header against Valencia last week was world class and his effort this time, against Granada, completed their comeback. He looks happy and isn’t even fully match fit yet! It ended 5-1 to the hosts as they ruthlessly put Paco Jemez’s team to the sword. That victory means they go into the international break top of the league. After Leicester’s epic rise last season, anything is possible, right? 1500/1 at one bookies.

Rakitic edges Barcelona past tricky Athletic

Most weeks we’re going to see Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar take the headlines but there are a lot of stars at Barcelona who often don’t receive the praise their performances warrant. Ivan Rakitic certainly falls into that category as while most neutrals will suggest he’s the weak link in midfield, Barcelona fans will let you know how important he is. Andres Iniesta can’t bomb forward any more, he simply doesn’t have the legs to, but Rakitic does - and he plays a crucial role in both defence and attack.

Barcelona were penned back for large periods of time and even switched to a 4-4-2 early on to counteract the pressing style of Athletic Club. While ‘MAS’ (including Arda Turan) were the ones who could strike the killer blow, it was the tireless running of Rakitic, Denis Suarez and Sergi Roberto who made things happen for the visitors. Arda’s wonderful cross was headed home by Rakitic and with that, Barca got past one of the trickiest places to visit in La Liga.

Real pushed to the limit by a fearless Celta

The opening match of a new season at the Santiago Bernabeu is usually expected to be an exhibition, where the new stars (well, if you can truly class Alvaro Morata and Marco Asensio as new) would instantly become terrace heroes as they swept aside whichever side drew the short straw of visiting the Bernabeu first. In the end, it turned out to be quite difficult and on another day, it might have signalled Zinedine Zidane’s first loss in 14 La Liga matches - but it didn’t.

A lot of talk has been about Gareth Bale stepping up in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and while he played well, he couldn’t find a way past Sergio Alvarez in the Celta goal. Luka Modric hit the bar, while Morata himself spurned some glorious chances. Asensio did well but wasn’t at the level we saw versus Real Sociedad last week. Morata actually put Real ahead before Fabian Orellana scored a beauty to make it 1-1 six minutes later. Thankfully for Zidane his squad is loaded with talent and it was Toni Kroos who stepped up with less than 10 minutes to go with his trademark Lawnmower Shot™ to snatch a winner, just after Celta had wasted a 3-on-1 counterattack.

THE LOSERS

Still not quite right for Simeone and co.

We’re only two games into this season but it’s clear to see it hasn’t clicked for Atletico Madrid yet. Last week’s uncharacteristic sloppiness in injury time was punished by Alaves and this week saw them fail to breakdown another newly promoted side in Leganes. I think we all knew it’d take a while to integrate Kevin Gameiro into the side but most wouldn’t have predicted Diego Simeone’s men being four points behind their title rivals already. Not good enough.

But by the same token, there’s no reason to panic just yet as we’re so early into the campaign. Antoine Griezmann made his first appearance of the season and afterwards said they’d need to shape up or face a relegation battle. Now it’s clear this was the frustration speaking but either way, it shows how dropping points isn’t in the nature of Atletico in recent years. They just couldn’t find a way past a well organised Leganes backline. Can Atletico can’t afford any more slip-ups?

Valencia suffer back-to-back defeats

Ah, Valencia. It’s clear to see the squad isn’t finished yet, at least if they don’t fancy another season of midtable mediocrity, but two defeats in a row has started to eat away at the optimism even the most glass-half-full fans had. Against Eibar it was truly a game of two halves as an impressive opening 45 minutes was replaced by a tepid, plodding second half where Eibar ended up being more comfortable than they could’ve imagined.

There’s a case for Los Che being unlucky against Las Palmas last week as they dominated large periods of the game only to be stung on the counterattack. Against Eibar also, luck wasn’t on their side. Aymen Abdennour was harshly judged to have handled the ball despite being less than a metre away and his hand being by his side. Deliberate? Not a chance. Yet while luck can be against you, Santi Mina can’t afford to miss two practically open goals. Valencia need three or four new faces to threaten the top half of the table.

Granada are torn apart by Las Palmas

New season, same old Paco Jemez. Football fans often love a character, one who doesn’t fit the mould and dares to say or act how no one else does. Jemez fits into that category, usually for his outbursts post-match or in interviews where he openly puts himself forward for the biggest jobs in the country. We’ve seen him mention Manchester United as well as the Spain job in recent years, both of which passed him by. Yet while his rants can be entertaining, it must be frustrating for his employers.

At the end of his side’s crushing 5-1 defeat to Las Palmas he seemed distraught. “The club needs to think if I’m the right person to lead them or not because the best player for Las Palmas (today) was me.” He later reiterated that point in the post-match press conference, saying they might be better off looking for another coach. Now while self-criticism is admirable, these meltdowns at the end of defeats can become tiring. It also makes the owner look stupid if his own coach is questioning why he was appointed, even if it’s just in the heat of the moment. It’s almost a cry for attention and Jemez would be best served putting his energy into making less errors as opposed to more headlines.