La Liga, Week 1: Real Madrid struggle to defeat Cordoba, Atlético Madrid draws against Rayo Vallecano

Rayo Vallecano held the defending champions Atlético Madrid to scoreless draw in the La Liga opener for both sides. Los Colchoneros were ineffective on the attack, looking tired and listless by the end of the match. Rayo were the better side for a majority of the 90 minutes, but couldn’t get past the stingy Atléti defense.

The first half of the match was marked by physical play and poor shooting accuracy. Atléti managed only two shots on target, while Rayo failed to really test Miguel Moya at all. Mario Mandzukic had the best chances on goal with shots in the 26th and 27th minutes, but beyond that, neither team generated much on the offensive front.

The first eight times Cordoba faced Real Madrid at the Bernabéu they lost. The newly promoted club’s ninth trip didn’t go any better in terms of the result, but only losing 2-0 against the Spanish giants should give Cordoba belief that they can compete in La Liga this season.

Cordoba hung around as the second half rolled on thanks to a combination of Real Madrid not looking very cohesive in the attack and goalkeeper Juan Carlos being spectacular on multiple occasions. That’s not to say that Carlos single-handedly kept the visitors in the match; while his saves were vital, Los Califas played very well and were able to attack Madrid with some success.

Cordoba are debuting new signing Mike Havenaar, a Japanese international target man, in addition to a number of loanees. They’ll probably play through their wingers -- a couple of young, quick players -- and look to cross to Havenaar.

Kickoff is at 2 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. local time. You can catch the game on beIN Sports in the U.S. and Canada, and on Sky Sports 5 in the UK.

Despite going down a man at the end of the first half, Barcelona were able to see off Elche 3-0 behind a brace from Lionel Messi and 18-year-old debutante Munir El Haddadi’s first career La Liga goal.

The opening 20 minutes at the Camp Nou were very quiet, with the exception of a furry little pitch invader who ran around for a couple minutes and momentarily delayed the match.

Barcelona and Elche kicked off their La Liga match on schedule but less than a minute into the match, a furry little pitch invader brought everything to a stop.

RUN LITTLE KITTY! YOU’RE AT THE CAMP NOU AND ON TV!!

Barcelona begins the Luis Enrique era on Sunday as they welcome Elche to the Camp Nou. It’s the season opener for both sides, and the Blaugrana will be determined to get Enrique a win in his debut. Barca defeated Elche at the Camp Nou 4-0 last season, but were held to a scoreless draw late in the season in the return fixture.

Key Player: Claudio Bravo (Barcelona)

The referee was the star of the show in this match. Malaga scored the opening goal off a penalty, which was initially saved, then bundled back in by Luis Alberto. Malaga had two men sent off late in the second half, giving Athletic an avenue back into the match, and they took it. Unfortunately, the referee wouldn’t let them grab an equalizer. Athletic goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz scored a brilliant header, but it was ruled out for a non-existent foul. Los Leones were also denied a penalty when Malaga keeper Carlos Idriss Kameni hauled down an Athletic player in the box two minutes after that, and never did find an equalizer that counted.

A brilliant up-and-down encounter featured just two goals despite the chances for three times that, and a late equalizer for a side with 10 men. Pablo Piatti hit both posts with a shot for Valencia early, leading to Sevilla heading into the half with a lead after Aleix Vidal’s goal. Rodrigo De Paul came on for his Valencia debut in the 66th minute, and was astonishingly sent off just a minute later. But even though they were down a man, Valencia were able to push for a goal and found it in the 88th minute, with Lucas Orban chesting in.

The goal was disallowed, and no one can tell why. Iraizoz isn’t offside, nor is anyone interfering with play. There’s no clear foul. This looks like a routine set piece with a brilliant header on the end of it, but it didn’t count.

Not long before this, referee Antonio Mateu sent off two Malaga players. A couple of minutes after Iraizoz’s disallowed goal, Mateu called a foul on Athletic when Malaga goalkeeper Carlos Idriss Kameni clearly pulled an Athletic player down by the shoulders. The match ended 1-0 to Malaga.

Welcome back fans of La Liga, it’s time for another exciting season of Spanish football! The new campaign brings new faces to the league, three new teams and the extremely high likelihood that one of three teams will win the title next spring.

So forget the EPL, bypass the Germans and Italians, tune your TV or browser to the proper location and enjoy the opening weekend of Spanish football!