Matchday 2 - Round-up

Matchday two threw up what could turn out to be the shock result of the entire season as Hercules gunned down Barcelona 0-2 at the Camp Nou thanks to a brace from debutant Nelson Valdez. Pep Guardiola's team could not find a way past Juan Calatayud despite dominating possession and, at the other end, Victor Valdez was beaten twice by opportunistic strikes.

Barcelona's misfortune is Real Madrid's gain and Jose Mourinho was smiling again as his side comfortably beat Osasuna 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu; Mourinho's old pal Ricardo Carvalho was the unlikely match winner. The home side were in complete control of the game and only Gonzalo Higuain's profligate finishing denied the Madrilenos a more emphatic scoreline.

Valencia made it two out of two so far this term with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Racing Santander at Mestalla. Unai Emery had goalkeeper Cesar to thank for the fact that his side were not behind at half time as Miguel Angel Portugal's side took the game to Valencia. Los Che went ahead through a Hedwiges Maduro strike two minutes into first half stoppage time when only one minute had been signaled.The hosts were much better in the second half but, while they wasted their own opportunities to increase the advantage, they still had Cesar to thank for the clean sheet.

Atletico Madrid continue to file evidence that they will be a much more formidable force in La Liga this year. Quique Sanchez Flores' side got the better of Athletic Bilbao at San Mames in a scintillating 1-2 win. Diego Forlan and Tiago notched up Atleti's advantage before Fernando Llorente's late goal reduced the deficit to ensure a tense final few minutes. Atletico are early leaders in the championship race and look impressive but their victory here was dampened slightly by a knee injury to Kun Aguero.

Despite a whole host of injury problems, Malaga went to Real Zaragoza's Romareda and blew Jose Aurelio Gay's side apart in the first half. Jesualdo Ferreira's team were five nil up after just over half an hour and that was a big enough deficit to yield in order to prevent the fightback in a match which eventually finished 3-5. Braces for Fernando and Juanmi and a goal by Quincy did the trick for a very effective Malaga before Edmilson, Marco Perez and then Ander Herrera eventually hit back for the Aragonese club.

Levante's misery continued at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez where they were beaten 4-1 by Getafe, who tend to be very strong at home. Michel's men did not have to be at their best, however, to crush the Valencians, who look far too error-prone at the moment to survive in this division. Early goals from Jamie Gavilan and Adrian Colunga and late ones from Gavilan again and Javier Arizmendi sealed the victory; Rafa Jorda was on the scoresheet for now bottom of the table Levante.

It looks like Real Mallorca's away day misery is set to continue under Michael Laudrup as the Balearic side were beaten 2-0 by an Alberto Botia-inspired Sporting de Gijon. Botia was magnificent in defence and scored the opener at the Molinon. A Diego Castro penalty confirmed the result five minutes from the end to lift Manuel Preciado's side off the bottom of the league standings.

Espanyol came out flying at the Madrigal on Sunday but could not sustain that rhythm and were eventually pummelled 4-0 by a much improved Villarreal side. It eventually all came together for Juan Carlos Garrido's team, which is still brimming with quality despite a summer spring clean. Giuseppe Rossi, 2, Borja Valero and Nilmar were all in on the goal action. Unfortunately, Itturalde Gonzalez tried to ruin the day by wrongly awarding a penalty and dishing out eleven yellow cards and one red to Javier Chica.

The final match on Sunday finished 0-0 between Sevilla and Deportivo La Coruna at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. Sevilla were trying to make amends for the Champions League debacle here in August but they could not finish any of their many chances as Manu shone in the Depor goal.

Real Sociedad were unfortunate to come away from the Juegos Mediterraneos with just a point in their 2-2 draw with Almeria on Monday. Martin Lasarte's team went ahead twice, first through Raul Tamudo, who was standing in for the injured Joseba Llorente, and then courtesy of a goal from Paco Sutil, but a suspiciously offside-looking initial leveller from Pablo Piatti and then a last gasp wonder goal from Jose Ulloa ensured that the points were shared.