La Liga 2024-25: Midweek Games Give A Busy Start To Spanish Season

(MENAFN- IANS) Madrid (Spain), Aug 26 (IANS) A busy start to the new La Liga season continues in Spain with a round of midweek matches and a series of games next weekend, before the first international break. Celta have kicked off with morale-boosting wins against Alaves and Valencia, with veteran striker Iago Aspas showing that the years don't seem to have slowed him down.

The big question for Tuesday is if FC Barcelona will finally be able to include new signing Dani Olmo in their first-team squad for the visit to play Rayo Vallecano. Financial fair play issues have kept Olmo out of the squad so far, but the departures of Ilkay Gundogan, Mika Faye, Clement Lenglet and Vitor Roque may just allow him to squeeze in under Barca's tight wage ceiling.

Tuesday's opening match pits Mallorca against Sevilla, with Mallorca losing a tight game away to Osasuna on Saturday, while Sevilla have looked vulnerable at the start of the campaign as they look to adapt to Garcia Pimienta's passing game, reports Xinhua.

There are four games on Wednesday, with Athletic Club Bilbao entertaining Valencia, an impressive Atletico Madrid take on pointless Espanyol, and there is a Basque derby between Real Sociedad and Alaves, and newly promoted Valladolid and Leganes face each other in what should be a close match.

Real Madrid visit Las Palmas on Thursday, while Girona need to recover from a 3-0 defeat to Atletico and start finding their feet this season when they take on Osasuna.

Celta Vigo presently share the top spot in the standings in La Liga with six points from two matches while Barcelona too have six points from two wins. Defending champions Real Madrid and cross-town rivals Atletico Madrid along with four other clubs share the joint third spot. All the top contenders will be hoping to open up gaps by winning their respective matches.

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