LONDON: Lionel Messi and Barcelona are already up and running at full speed in La Liga.
New Barca coach Luis Enrique enjoyed a winning start in his La Liga opener but it was a familiar face which did the damage, Messi scoring twice as the hosts shrugged off a first-half red card for Javier Mascherano to beat Elche 3-0.
Argentina star Messi, looking eager to put last season’s disappointments behind him, used a burst of speed to dribble free of a pack of opponents before slotting in Barca’s first goal in the 41st.
Barca then lost Mascherano to a direct red card when he fouled Elche’s Garry Rodrigues with only goalkeeper Claudio Bravo to beat.
But 18-year-old Munir El Haddadi, starting for the injured Neymar, scored seconds after halftime before Messi got his second goal in the 63rd after again sidestepping a group of defenders.
“I have to be delighted with that start,” said Enrique. “As we expected we had a little bit of difficulty creating chances at the start because Elche are very well-organised defensively, but bit-by-bit we began to find space and opportunities.”
Promoted Eibar beat Real Sociedad 1-0 for a winning debut in the first division, and Celta Vigo beat Getafe 3-1.
In France, AS Monaco finally recorded their first points of the Ligue 1 campaign when Radamel Falcao’s header just before the break sealed a 1-0 win at Nantes, who missed a first-half penalty.
Monaco overcame a lacklustre performance, with Falcao heading home a cross from Layvin Kurzawa on the stroke of halftime.
The Colombia striker missed the second half of last season and the World Cup with a knee injury and seemed to be struggling as Monaco — last season’s runner-up — opened their campaign with two losses.
Promoted Lens stunned Olympique Lyon 1-0 for their first win of the season, and Rennes goalkeeper Benoit Costil stopped a penalty in a 0-0 draw with St Etienne, who trail leaders Bordeaux by two points after the first three games.
Elsewhere in Germany, Mainz 05 earned a 2-2 draw at promoted Paderborn with an injury-time penalty, denying the home side a victory in their first Bundesliga game.
Koo Ja-cheol converted the spot kick in the 94th minute after Uwe Huenemeier brought down Shinji Okazaki.
Okazaki opened the scoring in the 34th minute, when he got to the rebound after Johannes Geis’ free kick struck the left post.
Elias Kachunga equalised with his — and Paderborn’s — first Bundesliga goal three minutes later, jumping on a wayward back pass from Geis and firing past Mainz goalkeeper Loris Karius.
Huenemeier thought he had secured the win when he headed past Karius in the 87th, only for Paderborn to concede the penalty minutes later.
Also, Christoph Kramer’s last-minute equaliser secured Borussia Moenchengladbach a 1-1 draw with visiting Stuttgart in the late game.
Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2014