
Lionel Messi scored twice as FC Barcelona got their Spanish Liga defence off to the perfect start with a 5-0 home victory against Villarreal CF on Monday.
The European champions have already lifted two trophies this month – the Spanish Super Cup and, on Friday with a 2-0 defeat of FC Porto in Monaco, the UEFA Super Cup – and were full of confidence against their fellow UEFA Champions League contenders.
Thiago Alcántara slotted in the opener from outside the box in the 25th minute despite the presence of four yellow-shirted defenders. Cesc Fàbregas doubled the lead as half-time approached after collecting a Messi pass, taking the ball past Diego López and rolling it into an empty net.
Fellow summer signing Alexis Sánchez then scored his first league goal for the Azulgrana (47), another tidy finish from Thiago's chipped pass which left the Villarreal defence flat-footed, before Messi got in on the act by dispatching fine assists from Andrés Iniesta (52) and Thiago (74).
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| Home | Away | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last updated: 09/09/2011 12:35 CET | |||||
29/08/2011 | |||||
| Barcelona | 5-0 | Villarreal | |||
Thiago Alcántara 25, Fàbregas 45, Alexis Sánchez 47, Messi 52, 74 | |||||
| Venue: Barcelona | |||||
28/08/2011 | |||||
| Sevilla | 2-1 | Málaga | |||
Negredo 2, 26 | |||||
| Venue: Sevilla | |||||
28/08/2011 | |||||
| Zaragoza | 0-6 | Real Madrid | |||
Marcelo 28, Xabi Alonso 64, Kaká 82, Cristiano Ronaldo 24, 71, 87 | |||||
| Venue: Zaragoza | |||||
28/08/2011 | |||||
| Getafe | 1-1 | Levante | |||
Miku 62 | Juanlu Gómez 77 | ||||
| Venue: Madrid | |||||
28/08/2011 | |||||
| Mallorca | 1-0 | Espanyol | |||
De Guzman 62 | |||||
| Venue: Palma de Mallorca | |||||
28/08/2011 | |||||
| Athletic | 1-1 | Rayo | |||
Iturraspe 56 | Movilla 62 | ||||
| Venue: Bilbao | |||||
28/08/2011 | |||||
| Atlético | 0-0 | Osasuna | |||
| Venue: Madrid | |||||
27/08/2011 | |||||
| Granada CF | 0-1 | Betis | |||
Rubén 88 | |||||
| Venue: Granada | |||||
27/08/2011 | |||||
| Valencia | 4-3 | Racing | |||
Acosta 14, Adrián González 56 | |||||
| Venue: Valencia | |||||
27/08/2011 | |||||
| Sporting Gijón | 1-2 | Real Sociedad | |||
De las Cuevas 68 (p) | Agirretxe 35, 65 | ||||
| Venue: Gijon | |||||
| Clubs | P | Pts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid CF | 1 | 3 | ||
| 2 | FC Barcelona | 1 | 3 | ||
| 3 | Valencia CF | 1 | 3 | ||
| 4 | Real Sociedad de Fútbol | 1 | 3 | ||
| 5 | Sevilla FC | 1 | 3 | ||
| 6 | RCD Mallorca | 1 | 3 | ||
| 7 | Real Betis Balompié | 1 | 3 | ||
| 8 | Athletic Club | 1 | 1 | ||
| 9 | Getafe CF | 1 | 1 | ||
| 10 | Levante UD | 1 | 1 | ||
| 11 | Rayo Vallecano | 1 | 1 | ||
| 12 | Club Atlético de Madrid | 1 | 1 | ||
| 13 | CA Osasuna | 1 | 1 | ||
| 14 | Real Racing Club | 1 | 0 | ||
| 15 | Málaga CF | 1 | 0 | ||
| 16 | Real Sporting de Gijón | 1 | 0 | ||
| 17 | RCD Espanyol | 1 | 0 | ||
| 18 | Granada CF | 1 | 0 | ||
| 19 | Villarreal CF | 1 | 0 | ||
| 20 | Real Zaragoza | 1 | 0 |
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