Rayo Vallecano were in fine form on Friday as they defeated Espanyol 3-0 in the game that kicked off the ninth week of the Spanish top flight. The Madrid outfit were in great form after their 5-1 defeat at the hands of Barcelona in their previous game. They are 14th in the standings now.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Danilo and Marcelo were on the scoresheet for Real Madrid as they defeated Celta Vigo 3-1 at Balaidos. The match was closer than the scoreline suggests as Celta peppered Los Blancos with a flurry of attempts, but Keylor Navas, who was linked with a move to Manchester United in the summer in a deal that would have seen David de Gea over the other way, stood tall time and again to keep his side in the game.
The home team remained resurgent and were looking for an equaliser in the dying minutes of the game which left them exposed and the visitors killed the game with a late third goal.
Newly promoted Real Betis were held to a 1-1 draw by Granada. The Beticos are now tenth in the table while Granada lie a lowly 19th.
Kevin Gameiro struck a hat-trick while Yevhen Konoplyanka and Ever Banega added one each to help Sevilla register an emphatic 5-0 win over Getafe. The reigning Europa League champions have endured an iffy start to their campaign and Unai Emery will hope that their shellacking of the Madrid outfit gets his side on track.
Adnane Tighadouini and Juan Carlos scored once each to help Malaga to a 2-0 win against Deportivo La Coruna.
Real Sociedad won 4-0 win against Levante to ease some pressure on their beleaguered manager David Moyes. La Real have struggled this campaign and pressure is mounting on the former Manchester United boss to reverse their fortunes in order to stay in the job. The Scotsman will hope that the win turns out to be a harbinger of good times for his side.
Villarreal and newly promoted Las Palmas played out a scoreless draw at Gran Canaria on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Barcelona played host to Eibar at the Camp Nou, and the Blaugrana were in fine form as they came from behind to win 3-1 against the Basque club. Luis Suarez and Neymar have stepped their game in the absence of Lionel Messi and the Uruguayan registered a hat-trick to ensure all three points for his team. The Catalans are tied with Real Madrid on top of the table, and it will be interesting to see if they remain neck and neck heading into next month’s first Clasico due to be played at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Jackson Martinez and Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco both scored in the first half to help Atletico Madrid defeat Valencia 2-1 at the Vicente Calderon. The win sees Los Rojiblancos just two points adrift of Real Madrid and Barcelona in the table while Los Che are now in ninth.
Athletic Bilbao hammered Sporting Gijon 3-0 at the San Mames on Monday night are now 12th in the table.