La Liga preview, August 24-27, 2018

AUG. 23 – The second round of La Liga matches for the 2018/19 season will be played over four days, from Friday, August 24 to Monday, August 27.

The action gets underway at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez, where Amath Ndiaye’s Getafe will look to bounce back from their opening round loss to Real Madrid when they host Papakouli Diop’s Eibar, who were also losers on the opening weekend.

Saturday’s early kick-off sees Ghanaians Mubarak Wakaso and Patrick Twumasi looking to inspire Deportivo Alaves to a home victory over Ryad Boudebouz’s Real Betis. This will be followed by Thomas Partey’s Atletico Madrid at home to Gael Kakuta’s Rayo Vallecano, and the day’s action wraps up with champions Barcelona visiting Real Valladolid.

Barca opened their campaign with a 3-0 home win over Alaves last weekend – inspired by a brace from Lionel Messi – and they will start as favourites for the three points at Estadio Municipal Jose Zorrilla against a Valladolid team which boasts the talents of Moroccan Anuar Tuhami.

Real Madrid will be in action in the late game on Sunday night, looking to add to their opening win over Getafe when they face hosts Girona – who are likely to field Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou – at Estadio Municipal de Montilivi.

Preceding the Real match are two games on Sunday evening, as Espanyol host Valencia and Sevilla take on Karl Tomo Ekambi’s Villarreal at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium. Sevillistas Los Rojiblancos opened with an impressive 4-1 away win over Vallecano, while the Yellow Submarine are looking to bounce back from their loss at home to Real Sociedad.

The round wraps up with two matches on Monday night, as Cheick Doukoure, Rapahel Dwamena and Moses Simon look to inspire Levante to a home win over Sofiane Boufal’s Celta de Vigo, followed by Athletic Bilbao looking to deny Huesca a second successive win in their maiden La Liga campaign.

Key match stats

Real Valladolid v Barcelona – Head-to-head, all competitions
Matches played 32
Valladolid wins 4
Barca wins 23
Draws 5

Girona v Real Madrid – Head-to-head, all competitions
Matches played 2
Girona wins 1
Real wins 1
Draws 0

Sevilla v Villarreal – Head-to-head, all competitions
Matches played 38
Sevilla wins 19
Villarreal wins 8
Draws 11

La Liga fixtures, August 24-27
All times CAT

Friday, August 24
20:15: Getafe v Eibar – LIVE on SS7, Max2 & SelGo4
22:15: Leganes v Real Sociedad – LIVE on SS7, Max2 & SelGo4

Saturday, August 25
18:15: Deportivo Alaves v Real Betis – LIVE on SS7, SS10, Max360 & SelGo2
20:15: Atletico Madrid v Rayo Vallecano – LIVE on SS7, Max2 & SelGo4
22:15: Real Valladolid v Barcelona – LIVE on SS7, Max2 & SelGo4

Sunday, August 26
18:15: Espanyol v Valencia – LIVE on SS7, SS10, Max360 & SelGo2
20:15: Sevilla v Villarreal – LIVE on SS7, Max2 & SelGo4
22:15: Girona v Real Madrid – LIVE on SS7, Max2 & SelGo4

Monday, August 27
20:15: Levante v Celta de Vigo – LIVE on SS7, Max2 & SelGo4
22:00: Athletic Bilbao v Huesca – LIVE on SS7, Max2 & SelGo4