Barcelona open 5-point lead over Real Madrid

MADRID, Spain – La Liga champions Real Madrid crashed to a shock 2-1 defeat at derby rivals Getafe on Sunday, August 26 to leave them five points behind fierce rivals Barcelona after only two games of the new season.

Madrid’s sluggish start has seen them held 1-1 at home to Valencia in the league followed by a 3-2 defeat by Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup first leg, before this latest slip-up.

Gonzalo Higuain put Madrid ahead after 26 minutes but their weakness in the air returned to haunt them as Juan Valera headed Getafe level after 52 minutes.

Madrid pressed forward looking for the winner but instead they were caught out at the back, with Abdelaziz Barrada scoring a 74th-minute winner.

‘Unacceptable performance’

“It was a deserved win for Getafe but they didn’t do anything special and we were very poor,” said Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho.

“It was an unacceptable performance and I don’t feel frustrated about the result because it was totally deserved.”

Mourinho’s side will now look to get their season back on track in the second leg of the Super Cup on Thursday against Barca, who beat Real Sociedad 2-1 earlier on Sunday.

After a scrappy opening at Getafe, Madrid began to assert themselves and Mesut Ozil was guilty of a glaring miss in the 15th minute when he hit the bar with the goal gaping after a neat combination with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Higuain had been picked ahead of Karim Benzema and he gave the visitors the lead from Angel Di Maria’s pass, using his strength to round the goalkeeper and slot the ball home.

After the break, Getafe came out looking to attack and got their reward thanks to poor marking from Madrid, with the unmarked Valera heading in from a free-kick.

The visitors pushed forward looking to regain the lead but instead Getafe struck again, with Adrian Colunga going past Raul Albiol and setting up Barrada to score.

Messi saves the day for Barcelona

Earlier, Lionel Messi struck a late brace to give Barcelona a victory over 10-man Osasuna that took them to the top of the table on goal difference over Rayo Vallecano.

“This is a difficult stadium to come to and Osasuna were on top form but we still had good chances,” said Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova, who was sent from the dug-out for dissent midway through the second half.

“I told the linesman that there was a free-kick and I was told not to complain,” he explained. “Now we know what to expect from this referee.”

Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes prevented Osasuna from taking the lead inside the first minute as he palmed away a close-range effort from Alvaro Cejudo, who had easily skipped past Gerard Pique.

The Catalans began to find openings, with Andres Iniesta firing over and Cristian Tello hitting the post from 25 yards, but it was Osasuna who snatched the lead on the break.

Roland Lamah sent a deep cross from the left wing that found Joseba Llorente — on loan from Real Sociedad — and he squeezed the ball in at the far post.

The game seemed to be going away from Barcelona but Messi popped up with two goals in the last 15 minutes to rescue them, first touching in an Alexis Sanchez cross and then finishing clinically with his left foot to condemn Osasuna.

Osasuna’s Francisco Punal was red-carded by the referee for protesting about the Argentine’s first strike, as he felt he was offside.

Valencia draw with Deportivo

The late game between Valencia and Deportivo La Coruna proved to be a thrilling affair, with visitors Depor rallying from 3-1 down at half-time to secure a 3-3 draw.

Valencia, third last season, went 2-0 up inside 28 minutes thanks to a brace from Roberto Soldado and made it 3-1 shortly before half-time when Sofiane Feghouli replied to Abel Aguilar’s strike for Depor.

However, Aguilar added a second for the away side just before the hour and striker Pizzi made it 3-3 with a 76th-minute spot-kick after Ricardo Costa had been sent off for conceding a penalty.

Elsewhere, a 44th-minute equaliser from Spain international Alvaro Negredo earned Sevilla a 1-1 draw at Granada. – Agence France-Presse