Five takeaways from Matchday 1

LALIGA EA SPORTS is back! And, the new season is already fascinating, with several intriguing storylines coming out of the opening matchday. Even with two more fixtures still to come on Monday night, we can already look back at the first eight matches and at five things we learned from the weekend’s action. 

Lewandowski is still one of Europe’s elite strikers

He may be about to turn 36 years of age this week, but Robert Lewandowski is still in excellent condition and his finishing in front of goal is as clinical as ever. The Polish striker was the only player to score twice in his opening match of the new LALIGA EA SPORTS season, netting both of FC Barcelona’s goals in their 2-1 win at Valencia CF, in what was new coach Hansi Flick’s debut. With his first goal, he showcased his strength to get in front of his marker inside the six-yard box and to turn in a Lamine Yamal cross, before he struck a penalty into the top corner with pinpoint precision for his second goal. The 2022/23 Pichichi winner is still going to be a major threat this season.

Williot Swedberg starts this season as he finished the last

Iago Aspas may have dominated the front pages in Vigo after the RC Celta captain scored the winner in his team’s 2-1 victory over Deportivo Alavés, but Williot Swedberg deserves a lot of credit too for his role in the Galician side taking their first three points of the season. The 20-year-old Swedish player scored his team’s first goal and then assisted Aspas for the second, starting this season as he finished 2023/24. He now has six goals in 16 LALIGA EA SPORTS games, including four in his past seven.

It might take time for Real Madrid’s new forward line to click

Real Madrid are looking to win back-to-back LALIGA EA SPORTS championships this term, a feat they haven’t achieved since 2008. They failed to get off to a winning start in their bid to retain the title, as Los Blancos were held to a 1-1 draw away at an impressive RCD Mallorca side on Sunday night. All eyes were on this game as Carlo Ancelotti fielded Jude Bellingham, Vinícius, Rodrygo and new signing Kylian Mbappé all together, just as he’d done in the UEFA Super Cup win over Atalanta. Mbappé scored in that European game and Rodrygo finished off a lovely move in their LALIGA EA SPORTS opener, but the second half performance in Mallorca made it clear that it could take some time for this quartet of elite goalscorers to develop synergies on the pitch and to fully click into gear.

Rayo Vallecano start well once again 

By winning 2-1 away at Real Sociedad on Sunday, courtesy of goals from Jorge de Frutos and Sergio Camello, Rayo Vallecano have enjoyed an excellent start to the season. It’s the third season in a row in which the capital city club have started well, after drawing 0-0 with FC Barcelona at the Spotify Camp Nou in Matchday 1 in 2022/23 and after winning 2-0 at UD Almería in the first game of last season. In each of the past two seasons, Los Franjirrojos won their Matchday 2 fixture, so Iñigo Pérez’s side will hope for another three-point haul when they visit Getafe CF next weekend. 

Every team can score goals 

It’s interesting to analyse the eight results so far as a whole. One curious fact is that RC Celta were the only home team to enjoy a victory. Another is that there wasn’t a single clean sheet in the matches played so far, with all eight teams scoring at least one goal. There was a real mix of goals too. Athletic Club’s Oihan Sancet struck from outside the area to net the first goal of the season, while there were also three own goals, as well as ones from unlikely sources such as Marc Bartra or Christantus Uche. It’s clear that all the teams in LALIGA EA SPORTS know where the back of the net is and are going to press forward this season.