Madrid (AFP) – Veteran star strikers Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema scored braces on Sunday in contrasting victories for Barcelona and La Liga leaders Real Madrid.
Lewandowski scored twice for the second game in a row as Jules Kounde made his debut in Barcelona’s 4-0 win over Valladolid.
Afterwards, Real Madrid struggled for 88 minutes at Espanyol. With the score tied and time running out, Benzema put Real ahead before sealing the 3-1 victory after an eventful 10 added minutes.
Real salvaged their perfect start to the season and climbed back to the top of the table with nine points after three games, ahead of Real Betis on goal difference.
Barcelona moved up to third place, two points further back.
“Having Lewandowski in your team is a blessing,” Barca coach Xavi Hernandez said.
“He is an extraordinary player. Spectacular. A natural leader. It is a blessing to have him with us, he is wonderful.
“He is a model, a born worker. He is humble, he works for the team, he helps the coaching staff, he makes a difference.”
At the Camp Nou, Xavi gave Kounde his first start after the club was finally able to sign the French defender they signed from Sevilla last month for 50 million euros ($49.8 million).
Lewandowski hit the post with an early header.
Pedri then saw Raphinha’s run from behind, but the Brazilian was thwarted by goalkeeper Jordi Masip, who was well hit moments later when Ousmane Dembele’s poison shot hit the crossbar.
Barca’s pressure was felt after 24 minutes when Raphinha lashed out in a taunting cross that Lewandowski stabbed into the game.
A marauding Dembélé tested Masip from distance, then created the second for Pedri by rolling a perfectly weighted ball for the midfielder to bury on the stroke of half-time.
Lewandowski almost put the game beyond his reach in the 64th minute, racing into a Dembélé pass and deftly heeling Masip with the help of a Joaquín Fernández deflection.
Valladolid was about to recover one, but Marc-Andre ter Stegen saved Óscar Plano well and Kounde stuck a leg down the line to avoid Roque Mesa’s shot.
Barca scored the fourth in stoppage time when Roberto volleyed in after Lewandowski was denied a hat-trick after Masip, a former Barcelona player, hit his shot at the crossbar.
– ‘We were quite slow’ –
In the last match, Vinicius Junior ran into a sharp diagonal pass in the 12th minute to slide the ball into the far corner to give Real Madrid the lead.
Espanyol defended itself. Joselu tied at 43 minutes. He burst in and when Thibaut Courtois saved his first shot on goal and the ball bounced off Eder Militao, the Espanyol striker got ahead of the two Real players and put it in due to chafing.
Both teams had chances in the second half before Benzema, like so many times in the last year, decided the match. After a quiet game, he found space at the far post with two minutes remaining, received a cross from Rodrygo and volleyed in from close range.
In the midst of frenetic added time, Espanyol goalkeeper Benjamín Lecomte charged from his area to stop a Real attack and received a red card for a foul on Dani Ceballos.
Benzema finished off the free-kick on goal.
“We were quite slow,” Real manager Carlo Ancelotti said. “We had a hard time handling the intensity of the match.”
Villarreal lost their first points of the season in a 0-0 draw at Getafe when Unai Emery’s side had a penalty awarded overturned following a VAR review in the latter stages.
