La Liga Hangover: Barcelona Injuries and Aspas and Roberto Soldado, Our Heroes

Welcome to La Liga Hangover, a weekly column running throughout the season where we take a look at the key stories and talking points in Spanish football's top flight over the previous weekend. With a focus on the biggest teams, such as Atletico, Real Madrid and Barcelona, and a worthwhile nod toward the rest, we take a look at how the league shapes up each week and what to look out for going forward.

GOALS GALORE!

It wasn't supposed to be this way.

Months and weeks of preparations, transfers and flights around the world for pre-season competitions in the most far-flung of time zones...and all for nothing.

Well, alright, not nothing, but covering six Liga matches in 48 hours for a measly total of two goals, plus two Premier League games (Manchester United 0-0 Newcastle and Leicester 1-1 Tottenham) thrown in for good measure, sure made it feel like somewhere, someone had gotten it badly wrong with timing.

Thank goodness for two former Premier League legends and their current clubs, then, as two of last season's most exciting teams to watch—Celta Vigo and Villarreal—ensured that Sunday's late matches had lots of goalmouth excitement and talking points. Iago Aspas and Roberto Soldado were the heroes, both netting on their debuts for their new clubs (a second Celta debut in Aspas' case).

Soldado managed an awe-inspiring one league goal last season with Tottenham; he took precisely 30 minutes to match that tally in 2015-16 once back on Spanish soil.

"

Que ganas de volver a empezar! Vuelta a la liga. Esta noche Betis-Villarreal 22:30h. Vamos!! pic.twitter.com/qvfVBVyR4t

— Roberto Soldado (@R9Soldado) August 23, 2015"

Full Jornada 1 Results

Malaga 0-0 Sevilla

Espanyol 1-0 Getafe

Deportivo 0-0 Real Sociedad

Atletico Madrid 1-0 Las Palmas

Rayo Vallecano 0-0 Valencia

Athletic Bilbao 0-1 Barcelona

Sporting Gijon 0-0 Real Madrid

Levante 1-2 Celta Vigo

Real Betis 1-1 Villarreal

Granada vs. Eibar, Monday night.

How Deep is Your Love, Luis?

Luis Enrique led Barcelona to a magnificent treble last season and deservedly took plaudits for merging talent with style, a firm handling of the media with obtaining results and for mixing spotless white trainers with suit trousers.

QUIQUE GARCIA/Getty Images

Despite season-long whispers about whether he would see out more than one term at the club, it became obvious as trophy followed trophy that he would be in it for the longer term, so you wonder if the start of this year might change his mind a little. A hard-fought, crazy 5-4 win over Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup was followed by aggregate defeat by Athletic in the Spanish Supercopa—the same opposition who they beat this weekend on the opening day.

They did, however, beat them without a host of names available: Neymar ill, Gerard Pique suspended, Adriano injured, Xavi departed to Qatar and Lionel Messi MIA for 85 minutes.

The manager was pleased with the win and the overall display, despite it not being anywhere near Barcelona's best level. Per Marca:

"

We've started the season at a very high level. It was a really complete performance. I'd said that the circumstances would be very different to the ones in the Spanish Super Cup and that's how it turned out. We stopped Athletic from threatening much and created a lot more chances than them, although we were edgy at the end because of the narrow lead.

"

The ban on Barcelona being able to register new signings this summer means they cannot call upon Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal until January and, as a result, the squad looks enormously thin right now. Injuries are part of it, but the departures of Pedro to Chelsea, Xavi to Al-Sadd and Martin Montoya to Inter are having an impact, too—there is very little depth to this current squad.

At San Mames, Barcelona featured the fourth- and fifth-choice centre-backs at the end of the match, their fourth-choice central midfielder up front on the left to start and their fifth-choice centre-mid at right-back for most of the match. After two injuries, the only sub made to change the flow of the game was the entrance of a youthful, fifth-choice-at-best forward.

A far cry from a bench containing the likes of Xavi, Jeremy Mathieu, Pedro and Rafinha, Barcelona's bench against Athletic included the likes of Gerard Gumbau, Juan Camara and Sandro Ramirez—names only Barcelona fans would likely recognise and certainly not names that would strike fear into and dishearten opponents as they came on.

"

Official: Barcelona has the BEST bench in the world lads pic.twitter.com/QUG7dOJ4A3

— barcastuff (@barcasstuff) August 23, 2015"

In terms of seniors, Barcelona are playing from August until January with two goalkeepers, five centre-backs, three full-backs, four central midfielders and three forwards—plus Sergi Roberto, who is apparently covering most positions on the pitch. It's not enough to defend the title, and we should expect additional reinforcements to be signed or recalled from loan in January.

The question is: Will enough first XI players remain fit for that long to keep them close to the top?

Goal of the Weekend

"

#LIGABBVA | Vine | #Espanyol 1-0 #Getafe (3' SALVA SEVILLA) https://t.co/RrOYebM8AC

— Alerta G⚽L (@alerta_gol) August 22, 2015"

The first goal of the new Liga season was worth waiting for, as Salva Sevilla settled Espanyol's win over Getafe just three minutes in.

Runner-up Edition

"

VINE GOAL! |#LuisSuarez's volley wins it vs. #AtleticoBilbao. https://t.co/XxReF3zNaR

— Uruguay Football Eng (@UruFootballEN) August 23, 2015"

"

VINE | El GOL de Soldado para el Betis 0-1 Villarreal http://t.co/z9ZHEPuCh7

— JoseluSevilla19 (@JoseluSevilla19) August 23, 2015"

Points of Authority

• Real Madrid's attack continues to lack cohesion in build-up play, though there's no shortage of movement and positional interchanging between the front four. Jese started as the No. 9 vs. Sporting Gijon, but Cristiano Ronaldo, Isco and James Rodriguez all took up that space at different times during the game. It will take a little time, perhaps, for them to all be on the same page and learn when to time their runs—but the talent of those players and the lack of ability of opponents to consistently mark them will mean a lot of chances to score for Real Madrid when they do.
• None of that will matter to the criticism heading the way of Rafa Benitez if Real fail to beat promoted or smaller Liga sides with any kind of frequency. After the game, he explained, per AS: "To get the best out of the players we've got to give them a certain amount of freedom. The front players created a lot of moves but they didn't have a lot of space. We had a lot of shots but we lacked accuracy."
• Sergi Roberto came on to play right-back for Barcelona after Dani Alves picked up a first-half injury vs. Athletic Bilbao...and was arguably the Catalan side's best player. His driving runs down the flank, very aggressive defensive work and the composure to pick a pass when in the final third were instrumental in Barcelona having an outlet in the face of strong Basque pressure at times. He linked well with Ivan Rakitic in particular, and certainly put forward his credentials to replace Alves if the Brazilian is sidelined for long. The manager was also happy with his time on the pitch, per Marca: "The full-backs are very important for the team and I'm very happy with both of them, particularly Sergi Roberto, who had to come on unexpectedly."
• None of the newly promoted sides disgraced themselves in the slightest, with Las Palmas losing to Atletico Madrid by a solitary goal and both Real Betis and Sporting Gijon picking up opening-day draws. All three played neat and tidy football, though Betis in particular showed an aggressive side to their game, too. Add in the infrastructure, the bigger-name signings and the much bigger crowds, and they have to be seen as the best bet out of the three newcomers to stay up—probably without too much trouble.
• Goals might have been tough to come by, but red cards certainly weren't. The opening evening fixture saw Steve N'Zonzi sent off on his Sevilla debut, while Santiago Vergini followed suit on Saturday in his first game for Getafe. Sunday saw Simao red-carded for Levante after just five minutes, before Villarreal captain Bruno Soriano wrapped things up with an injury-time straight red against Betis.

Tactical Notes

• Villarreal are sticking with 4-4-2 this season, judging by the evidence of the first match, though it is markedly different from last season's. Nahuel and Samu Castillejo provide pace and drive on the wings—but that's exactly what they were, wingers. They played right and left respectively from the start, meaning they ran the touchline rather than cutting infield, as Jon dos Santos (right, left-footed) and Denis Cheryshev (left, right-footed) did last year to good effect. It will place more emphasis on the two strikers to show an ability to drop in and help link play in deeper central areas, but Leo Baptistao looks a million miles away from that capacity right now. He'll need time and patience, fitness and confidence—but he might not get it.
• Is 4-4-2 becoming the go-to system in La Liga? Atleti and Villarreal played it more often than not last year, but in the opening days, we can add Athletic Bilbao, Sporting, Malaga and Real Sociedad to that list, too. Though not hugely dissimilar to the more frequently seen 4-2-3-1, it places lots of different emphasis in build-up on the wide attackers and strikers, and teams have shown great variation in how they utilise those areas on the opening weekend. We'll keep an eye out to watch this theme develop.
• Atletico Madrid started 4-4-2, but Diego Simeone's second-half substitutions showed the depth and versatility to his squad. Angel Correa and Fernando Torres' entrances meant a shift to 4-3-3 for the final 25 minutes, with Koke playing left of three in the centre of midfield to keep things under control. Considering the likes of Jesus Gamez, Guilherme Siqueira and Yannick Ferreira Carrasco weren't even on the bench and Luciano Vietto didn't get off it, the strength of this squad is evident.

Good Week, Bad Week

The Good

Real Betis' comeback showed character and self-belief, leaving it late to salvage a 1-1 draw at home on their return to the top flight. The comeback also showed the human side of the game, mind, with a blindingly obvious offside call being missed by the officials.

Thomas Vermaelen put in a very good performance at centre-back for Barcelona. Having missed all of last year through injury—and two seasons before that for being rubbish—he really needed that display.

Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

Iago Aspas was a Celta hero before leaving for Liverpool two years ago. Now back with his old club, he showed he has lost none of his striking instincts, netting the winner with around 10 minutes to go. By "netting the winner," we mean mis-kicking the ball from two yards out and being relieved to see it bounce in off a defender's shins.

Diego Reyes and Inigo Martinez as a central defensive partnership for Real Sociedad: YES.

The Bad

Cristiano Ronaldo's finishing was approximately 84 levels below the standard expected of him. Sporting did well to see out the draw, but let's be honest—they got off lightly. A week or two down the line, another team won't.

Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images

Jackson Martinez spent most of his Atletico debut making runs that his team-mates either failed to spot or didn't want to risk a pass for. It was an hour of huff and puff for the Colombian, who was replaced by Fernando Torres.

A few teams not going for the jugular. Sure, nobody wants to lose on the opening day, but for the teams who dominated without risking a little more, this one point instead of three could be (and should be) looked upon as an opportunity missed. Real Sociedad should have pushed a little more against Depor, Sevilla should have done the same at Malaga. Valencia and Rayo probably could have played until Christmas, on the other hand, and still nobody would have scored.

In the new Liga season, 11 out of 18 teams have so far failed to score.

Follow @karlmatchett