La Liga Results 2015 Week 1: Final Scores and Updated Table After Saturday
Atletico Madrid got their 2015-16 La Liga campaign off to a winning start as they saw off Las Palmas 1-0 at the Vicente Calderon on Saturday.
Valencia drew 0-0 with Rayo Vallecano, with goals few and far between in the Spanish top flight.
Elsewhere, Espanyol won their opener against Getafe 1-0, while Deportivo La Coruna and Real Sociedad played out a 0-0 draw.
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Here are the results of the opening weekend so far as well as the updated table:
| Friday, August 21 | 7:30 p.m./2:30 p.m. | Malaga vs. Sevilla | 0-0 |
| Saturday, August 22 | 5:30 p.m./12:30 p.m. | Deportivo vs. Real Sociedad | 0-0 |
| Saturday, August 22 | 5:30 p.m./12:30 p.m. | Espanyol vs. Getafe | 1-0 |
| Saturday, August 22 | 7:30 p.m./2:30 p.m. | Atletico Madrid vs. Las Palmas | 1-0 |
| Saturday, August 22 | 9:30 p.m./4:30 p.m. | Rayo Vallecano vs. Valencia | 0-0 |
| Sunday, August 23 | 5:30 p.m./12:30 p.m. | Athletic Bilbao vs. Barcelona | TBD |
| Sunday, August 23 | 5:30 p.m./12:30 p.m. | Sporting Gijon vs. Real Madrid | TBD |
| Sunday, August 23 | 9 p.m./4 p.m. | Levante vs. Celta Vigo | TBD |
| Sunday, August 23 | 9:30 p.m./4:30 p.m. | Real Betis vs. Villarreal | TBD |
| Monday, August 24 | 7:30 p.m./2:30 p.m. | Granada vs. Eibar | TBD |
| 1 | Espanyol | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
| 2 | Atletico Madrid | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
| 3 | Valencia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Deportivo La Coruna | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Rayo Vallecano | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Sevilla | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Real Sociedad | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Malaga | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Getafe | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 10 | Las Palmas | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 11 | Athletic Club | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Barcelona | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Celta Vigo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Eibar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Granada | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Levante | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Real Betis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Real Madrid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Sporting Gijon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Villarreal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Atletico Madrid 1-0 Las Palmas
Antoine Griezmann scored the only goal of the game in a somewhat uninspiring affair.
The visitors enjoyed some early possession without troubling Los Rojiblancos, and the newly promoted side were made to pay for their failure to capitalise when the Frenchman found the net after 16 minutes.
Drawing a foul 30 yards out, Griezmann aimed the resulting free-kick at Las Palmas' goal, and with the help of a deflection wrong-footing goalkeeper Raul Lizoain, Griezmann put his side ahead.
Atletico held a slight edge over their opponents, but as Madrid-based journalist Dermot Corrigan noted, manager Diego Simeone's side failed to achieve any fluency going forward:
Los Rojiblancos looked more dangerous as the half progressed, though, culminating in Filipe Luis kissing the post with a left-footed strike just before the break.
Luis continued to threaten into the second half with a pair of dangerous crosses, but Las Palmas came closer to a goal in the early stages as David Simon sent a free header over the bar.
Los Amarillos' search for an equaliser almost came to fruition as they rattled the woodwork and then forced a wonderful stop from Jan Oblak.
Opta Jose highlighted the keeper's excellent form this year:
Although Las Palmas could not find a way through, they will be encouraged by their performance. The Guardian's Sid Lowe was impressed by what he saw:
Los Amarillos host Levante in their next outing and stand an excellent chance of coming away with a positive result if they can replicate Saturday's performance.
As for Atletico, they face a tricky tie with Sevilla in their next match and will need to significantly improve their level of performance to claim a win.
Rayo Vallecano 0-0 Valencia
The sparse opening weekend continued with Valencia's goalless draw with Rayo Vallecano.
There were a number of debutants for both sides: Bebe, Diego Llorente and Patrick Ebert started for Rayo, while Santi Mina, Mathew Ryan and Danilo Barbosa featured for the visitors.
The raft of new faces may have contributed to a slightly disjointed affair, as both teams lacked a clinical edge in the final third, with the visitors being particularly guilty of not taking their chances.
Los Che had several opportunities throughout the first half. As Corrigan reported, Alvaro Negredo put in an all-action display for Valencia, but Mina and Pablo Piatti could not find a way past the impressive Tono in goal:
Midway through the second period, Los Vallecanos grew into the game with chances of their own.
First, Manucho slid to meet Bebe's superb cross but could only direct his effort wide, before Luis Farina stretched to meet Lass Bangoura's delivery following some excellent play down the right from the Guinean, but the Argentinian could not make contact with the ball.
Tono was the hero once again as the match entered injury time, with the 35-year-old making a stunning reaction save from Negredo.
Corrigan gave his take on the match:
La Liga has produced just two goals in five matches over the opening weekend, and none from open play.
With Real Madrid and Barcelona set to feature Sunday, one can only hope the goals flow more freely.
