MADRID, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- The first round of matches in La Liga certainly left some things to discuss: from the marathon between Getafe and FC Barcelona to Jude Bellingham's Real Madrid debut. Here are some things we learned this weekend in Spain.
1. Bellingham worth every penny of fee
Real Madrid paid over 100 million euros for Jude Bellingham, but on the evidence of his man of the match performance in his side's 2-0 win against Athletic Bilbao, it is money well spent. Although Bellingham was slightly lucky when his mid-hit volley bounced into the ground and over home keeper Unai Simon, his interventions throughout the game were decisive.
Real Madrid's tactics this season seem simple. Press hard, deny space to rivals and allow the quality of Bellingham, Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo to do the rest. Bellingham added vision and drive to a side that will be very hard to beat this year.
2. Militao injury a blow to Real Madrid
It wasn't all good news for Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti, as Eder Militao suffered a knee injury that will keep him out for the season and which leaves him with just Antonio Rudiger, Nacho Fernandez and David Alaba as specialist central defenders. With Nacho also likely to provide cover at right back and Alaba on the left, the club has to decide if it goes back into the market to sign another defender before the end of August.
Another busy season implies Madrid's resources are likely to be stretched, and the club could be tempted to make another signing, with someone like Manchester City's Spain international Aymeric Laporte a possible target.
3. 115 minutes in Getafe, but precious little football
Twenty five minutes of injury time, two red cards - one for each team, Barca coach Xavi Hernandez also sent off, eight yellow cards, and what looked like a perfectly good penalty appeal for Barcelona in the last minute was turned down after the VAR saw a handball nobody else has been able to see. The 115 minutes of the 0-0 draw between Getafe and FC Barcelona certainly gave plenty to talk about, but precious little football.
What football was played came from Barca against the team which is so well versed in the dark arts. Not only does Getafe waste time, but they are nasty and cynical, with constant fouls and off-the-ball incidents all designed to get a reaction from their rivals. The problem is that Raphinha fell into the trap and was sent off for an elbow and referees let Getafe get away with, and that has to change.
4. No home wins so far
One surprising statistic from the eight games played in La Liga so far is that there have been no home wins, producing five away wins and three draws.
It's hard to give an exact reason for that, with Valencia surprising Sevilla, and Betis and Osasuna taking excellent wins in games where the home side looked to be slight favorites. Maybe the heat of mid-August in Spain was a factor and maybe some tides have just arrived sharper at the start of the campaign, but it will be interesting to see if it's a one-off or the start of a trend. ■
