This was not how it was meant to be. The Luis Suarez, Neymar and Lionel Messi attacking trident has started twice and Barcelona have been be...
This was not how it was meant to be. The Luis Suarez, Neymar and Lionel Messi attacking trident has started twice and Barcelona have been beaten on both occasions. Although this defeat in the Nou Camp by Celta Vigo could never be as painful as their collapse against Real Madrid last weekend, it was more humiliating.
Barcelona supporters have been waiting patiently to see Suarez unleashed at the Camp Nou, because of his biting suspension, and his availability was heralded as the start of a new era.
But an almost supernatural performance by goalkeeper Sergio Alvarez, the woodwork and simply profligacy, meant that Luis Enrique was humbled by the side he managed last season.
Celta struck, 10 minutes into the second half. A long goal kick by Sergio saw Hernandez out-jump Javier Mascherano, with Nolito and Joaquin Larrivey running onto it.
Nolito outmuscled Dani Alves and backheeled the ball cutely into Larrivey’s path. The forward had shaken off Sergio Busquets and rolled the ball past Claudio Bravo.Eleven straight wins for Real Madrid and 17 league goals for Cristiano Ronaldo – the numbers are frightening and even more so when put alongside those of Liverpool who have only scored 13 league goals as a team so far this season.
Real Madrid ran out 4-0 winners over Granada and even by recent standards this was spectacular stuff with Ronaldo scoring the first goal after just 99 seconds.
The goal owed much to the tenacity of full-back Dani Carvajal and the precision of the pass from Karim Benzema, but also to Ronaldo’s own ruthless efficiency.
After Carvajal had dispossessed Jeison Murillo close to the byline and fed Benzema the Frenchman played in Ronaldo and, while lesser mortals might have struggled for accuracy so early in the match, the Portuguese thundered the ball first time past Roberto.
The shot was practically Ronaldo’s first touch. Roberto’s first touch was to pick the ball out of his own net.
Madrid were again playing with their midfield quartet of pass-masters Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, James Rodriguez and Isco and again they had rivals Granada dizzy as they dominated possession. It is little wonder that some Real Madrid fans are wondering just who drops out when Gareth Bale returns.
One player who is unlikely to be left out is Rodriguez who scored the second goal on the half hour with a wonder volley from just inside the area.
Carvajal took a throw-in that Benzema flicked up to the 23-year-old. The French striker expected the Colombian midfielder to play the ball back to him but instead Madrid’s £60 million summer signing just lashed it first time into Roberto’s top corner.
It summed up Real’s current sky-high confidence and the whole Madrid bench were on their feet to applaud the flash of brilliance.
Robert Lewandowski and Arjen Robben scored late on as Bayern Munich marched on in the Bundesliga and condemned Jurgen Klopp's side to their seventh defeat in 10 games.
Bayern target Marcos Reus had threatened to spark an upset after he slipped in between the Bayern central defenders to meet Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's cross from the right and direct a header into the far corner in the 31st minute.
It was the first league goal Bayern had let in for 688 minutes.
Bayern responded by launching wave after wave of attacks and had 25 attempts on goal, 14 on target, but Arjen Robben, Thomas Müller and Robert Lewandowski could not find a way past Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller.
Pep Guardiola sent on Franck Ribery as a late substitution and a minute later he was involved in the move which led to Lewandowski scoring with a clinical strike against his former side in the 72nd minute.
Robben sealed victory with an 85th minute penalty after Ribery was brought down by Neven Subotic in the box.
Second-placed Wolfsburg kept up the pressure on Bayern with an impressive 4-0 win at Stuttgart.
Ivan Perisic struck twice with Robin Knoche and Kevin De Bruyne also on target as some sloppy defending by the hosts invited the Wolves to take all three points.
The emphatic away win sent a warning that Wolfsburg mean business this season in the race for the title and for Champions League qualification.
Gonzalo Higuain and Jose Callejon scored for Napoli as they beat fellow title hopefuls Roma 2-0 amid high tension at the Stadio San Paolo on Saturday.
Ivan Perisic struck twice with Robin Knoche and Kevin De Bruyne also on target as some sloppy defending by the hosts invited the Wolves to take all three points.
The emphatic away win sent a warning that Wolfsburg mean business this season in the race for the title and for Champions League qualification.
Gonzalo Higuain and Jose Callejon scored for Napoli as they beat fellow title hopefuls Roma 2-0 amid high tension at the Stadio San Paolo on Saturday.
Higuain, who previously hadn't scored in his first seven Serie A games this season, netted his fifth this week after three minutes as Napoli got off to a blistering start.
And the Argentine turned provider to help Jose Callejon seal the result late on.
Paris St Germain won 2-1 win at Lorient on Saturday with second-half goals by Edinson Cavani and Jean-Christophe Bahebeck to put pressure on Ligue 1 leaders Marseille.
PSG, who have been without Zlatan Ibrahimovic since the Sweden striker picked up a heel injury in late September, are second in the table with 24 points from 12 games, one point behind arch rivals Marseille who take on strugglers RC Lens on Sunday.
Lorient took a deserved lead on the stroke of half-time through Raphael Guerreiro, but in the end were no match for PSG, who went up a gear after the break, with Cavani and Bahebeck scoring eight minutes apart to give the visitors all three points.
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