LaLiga review: Real Madrid continue to lead the way, Lewandowski shows his class
It has been, and still is, a strange summer. There are no teams in Spain that have been able to move freely in the transfer market. What a difference in comparison to the Premier League, where millions of pounds seem to have been spent left, right and centre.
Barcelona have had to mortgage a large part of their future income in an attempt to get back onto the right path. Only time will tell if they get it right, but it's a massive risk.
Many others have not been able to, or wanted to, open their wallets and instead shown a more conservative side. As a result of the financial situation, there are many clubs who have not been able to register their new additions yet.
Even Real Madrid, with no economic issues, have also lost one of their greats. Casemiro’s transfer to Manchester United has been a huge blow.
And yet, they are still on top of the table. Perhaps without playing brilliant football, without creating too many scoring chances and conceding avoidable goals. Regardless, they have been able to win three games against Almería, Celta Vigo and Espanyol.
The latter put Madrid on the ropes for almost the entirety of the second half. But as we all know, Madrid don’t need to be at their best to win. Against Espanyol, Karim Benzema (34) didn't look to be at his best, but ended up scoring two goals.
Earlier it had been Vinicius Junior who had opened the scoring thanks to a masterful pass from Aurelien Tchouameni, the replacement for Casemiro. However, similar to last season, they were not able to kill off the match and their opponents hit back.
But in the same way as they did in the Champions League final, another top player turned up. Thibaut Courtois is one of the world's best goalkeepers, and there are no superlatives left to describe him.
LaLiga has only just begun, but with these groups of player, no one can doubt that Real Madrid’s balanced and phenomenally talented squad are once again the heavy favourites.
PLAYER OF THE ROUND
Umar Sadiq (25) is one of the names being thrown around during the transfer window. The Nigerian striker from Almería knows that in a few days, he will most probably sign for another team.
There was talk of alleged interest from Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, as well as other Premier League teams. Even the CEO of his club claimed that they had an offer from outside Spain of almost 30 million euros for him. That was a month ago and meanwhile, he has continued to perform.
A tall forward, his potential seems enormous. Against Sevilla, one of the teams who are interested in his services, he put in a stunning performance for his side's first win of the season. He bagged a goal and led from the front in an impressive 2-1 victory.
GOAL OF THE ROUND
Many have criticized the signing of Robert Lewandowski (34) for Barcelona, stating that he is too expensive for someone of that age, and only scored so many goals due to Bayern's brutal dominance in Germany.
He barely needed three games to show everyone that that was pure nonsense.
A supreme goalscorer, he is going to threaten Benzema’s throne. His second goal against Real Valladolid was stunning. Yes, his backheel seemed to be going wide and only the touch of the opposition defender allowed him to score. There are those who do not approve that LaLiga have given him the goal.
But it's not just about scoring goals, it's about imagining them. Who among us would have even thought of such an audacious shot with the heel when he had no angle to score? The odds gave him less than a 5% chance to score the goal.
Lewandowski has come to Spain to show the world his considerable goalscoring talents, and despite his age, he can perform in any competition. In the same way that Erling Haaland (22) seems the perfect icing on the cake for Manchester City, the Polish striker fits perfectly into Barça's game.
