La Liga, Week 2: Barcelona Grab Comeback Win, Madrid Lose To Getafe

Getafe Vs. Real Madrid 2012: Madrid Falls 2-1 to the Azulones

Real Madrid drew last week to open their La Liga campaign and things didn't get much better this time out. Despite taking an early lead, Los Blancos surrendered two second half goals to fall on the road to Getafe 2-1.

Real Madrid's first, best chance of the opening half came in the 16th minute when Mesut Ozil nearly gave Madrid an early lead. After several clever short passes that picked apart the Getafe defense, Ozil looked to be set-up perfectly to finish the play, but his shot went up a bit too quickly and it bounced back off the crossbar. Madrid contined to dominate the game and hammer the Getafe goal, before getting on the board in the 26th minute. Gonzalo Higuain made a great run in through the box, fighting off two defenders and getting behind goalkeeper Miguel Moya before putting the ball in the back of the net.

Getafe equalized in the 52nd minute on a set piece. While one Getafe player began the play in an offside position, he didn't affect the play and the AR ignored him, allowing Valera to get on the end of the cross and head it past Iker Casillas. Needless to day, Jose Mourinho was not impressed. He was significantly less impressed in the 75th minute when his defense was burned on a long ball that allowed Adrián Colunga to start a breakaway. The lone defender back on the play closed him down, but a perfectly time pass to a trailing Abdel Barrada doomed Madrid as Barrada beat Casillas with a low shot to give Getafe the improbable lead.

Despite late pressure and attacks, Madrid simply couldn't break through and continued their slow start to the La Liga season with more dropped points.

Osasuna Vs. Barcelona 2012: Messi Brace Steals Late 2-1 Win for Barca

For 75 minutes at the Estadio El Sadar, it was a dream day for Osasuna and their fans. An early goal from Joseba Llorente had the Rojillos ahead 1-0 and the defense was keeping Barcelona at arms length. As usually happens against the Blaugrana though, it can fall apart quickly as Lionel Messi scored twice in a ten minute span late to give Barca the 2-1 win,

Barcelona appteeared to be having a post El Clasico hangover in the first half which is certainly understandable. Having to defend looking in to the sun didn't help either, but that's hardly an excuse. Osasuna was completely unsympathetic on both fronts and wasted little time taking the lead. In the 17th minute, Roland Lamah's cross curled to the far post and was redirected in to the goal by a fully extended Joseba Llorente. Just a fantastic strike for Llorente and nothing that Victor Valdes could do to stop it. Barca were mostly unimpressive, largely due to Osasuna being outstanding throughout the half, until late in the half when they seemed to shake off some of the hangover and started to put serious pressure on the Rojillos.

Osasuna continued to stand tall against Barca in the second half despite the influx of more and more offensive fire power. In the 70th minute Sergio Busquets was dispossessed and apparently fouled, but the referee allowed the play to go on. Nino raced on goal and beat Valdes with his shot, but it hit off the post. Barca manager Tito Vilanoa was so incensed about the non-call, the referee sent him off.

That seemed to inspire Barca and five minute later Alexis Sanchez passed up a shot, drawing the defense and sending a quick pass across the box to a sliding Lionel Messi who pushed the ball past Andres Fernandez to get Barca the equalizer. Messi scored again in the 80th minute, putting Barca in the lead as he easily finished a cross from Pedro.

Osasuna Vs. Barcelona 2012: Game Time, TV Schedule, Live Updates And More

Barcelona return to the scene of the crime today--the place, Pamplona, where they officially disengaged from the Liga last year, after a 3-2 loss to Osasuna.

La Liga 2012, Week 2: Mistakes, Teenagers Dominate Opening Salvo

Mistakes, and another teenager, dominated the first set of games in Week 2 in Spain, as Zaragoza--a side that I don't think I've ever picked to win--stole three important points off of Espanyol thanks to two catastrophic mistakes, and Rayo Vallecano won a thriller thanks to 19 year-old Leo.

Real Sociedad 2-1 Celta

Sociedad locked up their first points of the season by coming from behind against a brash Celta Vigo side that never gave up, despite being outclassed for much of the match. The first half ended with a lucky Celta side begging for the whistle--la Real had hit the posts and the crossbar various times right before the break, and seemed to be seconds away from scoring, particularly in the 16th minute, when Agirretxe hit the post with a low shot, the ball ricocheted to Ansotegi, who slammed it off the crossbar. The second half saw more of the same from la Real, though Celta managed to grab the lead on 49': De Lucas finished off a brilliant little combination in the center of the pitch. They kept pressing to extend their lead, but maybe should have considered defending a bit--la Real scored to even the score within five minutes. They finished off their well-deserved win five minutes after that, when Agirretxe sliced past Vela to slot the ball home.

Espanyol 1-2 Real Zaragoza

Real Zaragoza is not the best team in the Liga; in fact, they might be the farthest team in the tournament from the best team. But that doesn't mean that they--as Marca eloquently put it "aren't a first division team": when they're given free goals, they will still (almost always) take them. And that's what made their win against Espanyol a little less mind-boggling: they were not the better side. They were not even close to better; but they are still professionals. So when Espanyol scored towards the end of the first half to take the lead, it seemed like things were over; but when defender Albín literally grabbed a shot by Helder Postiga with his hands in the area, when he already had a yellow card, well, this is a real team, not a group of beer league amateurs. Suddenly, Zaragoza was tied at 1 and up a man. They would culminate the game in the 89th minute, courtesy of Postiga, the best player on the night.

Real Betis 1-2 Rayo Vallecano

Last week, a 16 year-old became the youngest player to score in the history of the Liga. This week, a 19 year-old further cemented the idea that soccer in Spain is a young man's game: Leo guided his Rayo side to a tough victory in Sevilla against Real Betis by setting up his side's first goal, then scoring the winner in the 62nd minute. Rayo surprised everyone, coming out gunning against a Betis side that was clearly off balance, and their main offensive weapon was young Leo.

Who is not Messi, as Marca pointed out around 13028424173 times. My response:

via i1169.photobucket.com

Málaga 1-1 Mallorca

Málaga just can't catch a break right now. Well, they kinda can, with their 16 year-old striker winning them one game. But when things are bad it takes a lot more than one awesome kid to put them on the right track. Tonight was no exception, as just when things were looking up, the whistle ended things. Hemed, Primera's pichichi so far (how long does that last?) put the visitors ahead, but the Malagueños rallied to tie, and were just inches--seconds, really--from running out with a hard-fought victory...but their last-ditch attempts just would not fall. It's going to be a long road back to top-tier relevancy for Málaga, but they do seem to be fighting.

La Liga 2012, Week 2 Preview And Matches: Halftime For Real Madrid And Barcelona

Sure, La Liga is more important than the Supercup. But that doesn't mean that this weekend will feel like anything more than a brief break, a breather for Real Madrid and Barcelona to regroup.