MADRID, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid, whose players featured in the last four of the FIFA World Cup, began their La Liga campaigns in the second round. Here are four things we learned this weekend in Spain.
1. Barcelona lays down gauntlet
FC Barcelona kicked off its title defense with a 5-0 win away to Elche, an even more impressive result considering some players had less than two weeks of training following the World Cup and new signing Rodri did not play.
Coach Hansi Flick can be pleased with the contributions of new signings Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi, while Fermin Lopez and Raphinha provided plenty of movement in attack.
2. Espi saves the day for Real Madrid
Young striker Carlos Espi, who joined Real Madrid from Levante, showed his potential with a 90th-minute goal to give Jose Mourinho's side a winning start to the season away to Espanyol.
Espanyol looked set to hold on for a draw after Alex Calatrava had canceled out Jude Bellingham's opening header, but Espi was in the right place to finish after Kylian Mbappe caused confusion in the penalty area.
After helping Levante avoid relegation with his goals in the closing weeks of last season, Espi could prove a useful option as Real Madrid vies for the title this season.
3. No forgiveness for Alvarez
Julian Alvarez was named on the substitutes' bench for Atletico Madrid's 2-2 draw with Villarreal after saying he wanted to leave the club over the summer.
The Argentine has trained with the club for the past fortnight, but it was clear that fans at the Metropolitano Stadium had not forgiven him, as his name was greeted by a loud chorus of boos and whistles when it was announced, with further jeers when he came on as a late substitute.
4. Individual errors sabotage Terzic's Athletic debut
Edin Terzic's debut as Athletic Club coach ended in a 3-1 home defeat to Sevilla, with individual errors undermining his team's efforts.
Athletic was already down to 10 men after Yuri Berchiche was shown a red card in the 11th minute before Spain international goalkeeper Unai Simon gifted Sevilla the opening goal four minutes later when he dwelled on a clearance.
A misplaced pass from Benat Gerenabarrena allowed Sevilla to launch the counterattack that made it 2-0, before a backheel from Jesus Areso gifted possession to Sevilla in the build-up to the third goal. ■
