Matchday 2 of the La Liga 2024/25 was full of excitement, as many of the top teams in the league battled it out for early season dominance over the weekend. Find below a list of all the results and major highlights from the first two days of action.
Yamal Shines in 2-1 Barcelona Victory Over Athletic Club
A beautiful deflected strike by teenager Lamine Yamal in the 24th minute gave Barcelona a 1-0 lead over Athletic Club. The visitors were able to level out the match in the 42nd minute when Oihan Sancet converted on a penalty after defender Pau Cubarsi fouled Alex Berenguer inside the box.
It was then striker Robert Lewandowski to the rescue, as he smashed home a rebound to earn Barcelona a 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao. The game-winner came in the 75th minute after Padilla palmed away a cross from Pedri but gifted the rebound to the Polish striker
Barcelona are level with Celta Vigo at the top of the La Liga standings on six points. Athletic on the other hand are 15th with only one point from two matches.
Barcelona were short-handed, still missing key players like Gavi, Ronald Araujo and Frenkie De Jong due to injury. They were also without the services of new signing Dani Olmo who has not joined the team yet.
Next up for Barcelona will be Rayo Vallecano in Week 3, while Athletic Club will take on Valencia.
Villarreal Top Sevilla With Last Gasp Goal From Perez
In a thrilling encounter from Friday night, Villarreal snatched a dramatic 2-1 win against Sevilla at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium. The match looked like it would end in a draw until Ayoze Perez struck for his team in the 95th minute giving Villarreal their first win of the season.
Arnaut Danjuma found the back of the net after just six minutes in the game, which put Villa up 1-0 out the gate. Sevilla almost equalized shortly via Juanlu Sanchez but his effort was ruled out for offside. The hosts did however eventually level the score just before half-time, through Dodi Lukebakio to go into halftime 1-1.
The second half had both teams pushing hard for a winner but neither could break the deadlock. It wasn’t until a last-gasp effort from former Newcastle United forward Ayoze Perez that Villarreal could give its home fans what they were looking for with a big victory.
The result moves Villarreal up to mid-table in La Liga, while Sevilla are caught at the bottom end. Sevilla manager Garcia Pimienta will have even more pressure on him, after now losing three of their opening four league matches stretching back to last season.
Celta Vigo Beat Valencia 3-1
Celta Vigo came from behind to beat Valencia 3-1 and make it two wins from two in the new La Liga season.
Diego Lopez nodded the visitors ahead in the 14th minute to take the lead. Oscar Mingueza didn’t let the lead last, getting the home side level less than 10 minutes later when he volleyed in a cross from Iago Aspas.
Aspas then scored himself to put Celta in front five minutes later and take control of the game. Fran Beltran put away the match with a brilliant curling strike to make it 3-1 and put the match seemingly out of reach for Valencia. It was his first goal in four years and only his seventh in almost 10 years in La Liga.
While Celta are looking good at the top of the table with Barcelona, Valencia have started their season off with two losses, leaving them at the bottom of the league. They will be looking to rebound next week as they take on Athletic CLub who have also not had the best start.
