In the "La Liga" championship in Spain, three matches of the first round of the new season were played on Saturday.
The most interesting match took place at the "Municipal de Montolivi" stadium, where the newcomer to the league "Girona" faced Madrid's "Atletico". Diego Simeone's team did not have a very successful start to the season - the match ended in a difficult draw.
The newcomers started the match with a strong performance - in the 22nd minute Christian Stuani punished Jan Oblak for the first time, and just three minutes later the striker scored his second goal.
In the first half, "Atletico" was completely unsettled and did not create any dangerous opportunities, while the hosts threatened their goal several times.
In the second half, things went well for the "Girona" team as well - in the 67th minute Antoine Griezmann played a penalty in the penalty area, argued with the referee and received two yellow cards, resulting in removal from the field.
However, "Atletico" playing with ten men seemed even more threatening - in the 78th minute Andrea Correa narrowed the gap with a great shot, and in the 85th minute Jose Gimenez scored the equalizing goal.
There were no more goals in the remaining time and the match ended in a draw.
In other matches, "Real Sociedad" achieved a dramatic victory in Vigo by defeating the local "Celta" with a score of 3-2.
"La Real" trailed 2-1 in the second half, but in the end scored two goals and secured the victory. Juanmi equalized in the 80th minute, and Willian Jose's penalty kick brought the win.
In the last match, "Sevilla" played at home against Barcelona's "Espanyol". Sevilla took the lead in the 26th minute, but Leo Baptistao equalized just nine minutes later and the match ended in a draw.
Results:
"Girona" 2 - 2 "Atletico"
22' [1 - 0] C. Stuani
25' [2 - 0] C. Stuani
78' [2 - 1] A. Correa
85' [2 - 2] J. Gimenez
67' A. Griezmann ("Atletico") sent off from the field
"Celta" 2 - 3 "Real Sociedad"
22' [1 - 0] M. Gomez
33' [1 - 1] M. Oyarzabal
50' [2 - 1] M. Gomez
80' [2 - 2] Juanmi
88' [2 - 3] W. Jose (penalty kick)
"Sevilla" 1 - 1 "Espanyol"
26' [1 - 0] C. Lenglet
35' [1 - 1] L. Baptistao
84' E. Banega ("Sevilla") sent off from the field
League table:
