The post-Lionel Messi era for Barcelona began, with fans chanting his name in the stands & players overcoming his absence on the field.
Barcelona's first season without Messi in 17 years began on Sunday with a 4-2 win over Real Sociedad in the Spanish league, with over 20,000 crowds at the Camp Nou stadium paying tribute to the Argentine star & protesting against the club. Exhibited. to let him go.
Most fans chanted Messi's name out loud in the 10th minute, in reference to the number 10 jersey used at the club. Many fans were wearing or carrying Messi jerseys, & several banners honored the playmaker.
"Forever grateful to Messi," read one of them.
However, there were also some pranks against Messi, who was already in France with Paris Saint-Germain after Barcelona failed to offer him a new contract due to their financial struggles. Some fans preferred to chant "Barka, Barka" instead of his name.
"We all know what Messi represented. He was the most important player in the history of this club," said Barcelona's Gerard Pique. "But everything has an end & we've to move on. There is a lot of quality in this team. We will be very competitive & I am sure we will fight for all the titles till the end."
MADRID (AP) — The post-Lionel Messi era for Barcelona began, with fans chanting his name in the stands & players overcoming his absence on the field.
Barcelona's first season without Messi in 17 years began on Sunday with a 4-2 win over Real Sociedad in the Spanish league, with over 20,000 crowds at the Camp Nou stadium paying tribute to the Argentine star & protesting against the club. Exhibited. to let him go.
Most fans chanted Messi's name out loud in the 10th minute, in reference to the number 10 jersey used at the club. Many fans were wearing or carrying Messi jerseys, & several banners honored the playmaker.
"Forever grateful to Messi," read one of them.
However, there were also some pranks against Messi, who was already in France with Paris Saint-Germain after Barcelona failed to offer him a new contract due to their financial struggles. Some fans preferred to chant "Barka, Barka" instead of his name.
"We all know what Messi represented. He was the most important player in the history of this club," said Barcelona's Gerard Pique. "But everything has an end & we've to move on. There is a lot of quality in this team. We will be very competitive & I'm sure we will fight for all the titles till the end."
At Celta Vigo, extending his unbeaten streak to 12 matches in the Spanish league opener.
Correa, who opened the attack in place of Luis Suarez, opened the scoring in the 23rd with a low shot from outside the field. He added his second from inside the box in the 64th, when Iago Aspas converted a penalty kick in the 59th minute following a hand ball from Marcos Llorente to equalize for the hosts.
The benches were vacated in stoppage time after a brawl following a foul by Hugo Mallo on Suarez. Malo & Mario Hermoso of Atletico received red cards.
Home defeats have deprived Celta of victory in their last six league openers since a 2-1 loss to Levante in Valencia in 2015.
Atlético's last defeat in their first league game of the season came in 2009 - a 3–0 loss at Málaga - before the arrival of coach Diego Simeone.
"We can't see what happened last season," Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak said. “We just have to focus on the next match. It's the only thing that matters."
Suarez, the former Barcelona striker who was crucial to Atletico in their title race last season, came into the match as a second-half substitute for Correa & the Uruguay striker was still trying to regain his best form. .
The match, played in front of around 7,000 fans at the Ballados Stadium, marked the official debut for Argentine midfielder Rodrigo de Paul with Atlético.
Zidane ejected
Rayo Vallecano, the son of former French great Zinedine Zidane, was sent off goalkeeper Luca Zidane in the 16th after fouling a Sevilla player inside the field, which resulted in a penalty kick & eventually a 3–0 loss.
Yusuf N-Nesri converted the penalty & new signing Erik Lamela later scored twice in a home win for Sevilla, fourth last season.