MADRID: Barcelona made a seven-star to the new Spanish league season while Real Madrid struggled to secure their first points.
Madrid had to come from behind against Betis for a 2-1 win at the Estadio Bernabeu with E30m signing Isco heading an 86th-minute winner. Earlier Jorge Molina had put the lively visitors ahead in the 14th minute only for Karim Benzema level in the 26th.
At the Nou Camp, World Player of the Year Lionel Messi and Spain striker Pedro both scored twice, while E57m capture signing Neymar started on the bench and came on as a 63rd-minute substitute with the game already resolved.
Barca made a whirlwind start, scoring six times before halftime as the team responded to Argentine coach Gerardo Martino’s demand for greater intensity in their pressing game and a more direct approach.
The outstanding Cesc Fabregas squared for Alexis Sanchez to tap in the opener in the third minute, and Messi exchanged passes with Pedro to stroke in the second. Dani Alves struck the third after another slick passing move on the edge of the area, and Pedro, who started wide on the left of the attack keeping Neymar on the bench, grabbed the fourth.
Adriano was felled for a penalty in the 42nd which Messi fired home, and Fabregas set up Xavi with an extravagant looping pass over the defence for the sixth, just before the break.
Brazil forward Neymar was given a rousing reception when he came on for his competitive debut but it was Pedro who scored the seventh after a mix up in the Levante defence in the 73rd.
Racist chanting
In Italy Juventus scored three times in six minutes, including a goal from Carlos Tevez on his debut, as they beat Lazio 4-0 to win the Supercup in a match marred by racist jeering.
Juventus players Paul Pogba, Angelo Ogbonna and Kwadwo Asamoah were booed by Lazio fans each time they touched the ball late in the second half at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico. A warning was read over the stadium loudspeakers just before the end of the game, although play was not halted.
Juventus took the lead in the clash of last year’s Serie A champions and Coppa Italia winners when Pogba scored on the turn in the 23rd minute after Stephan Lichtsteiner’s pass was deflected and the ball ran loose to the Frenchman. Lazio were by no means outclassed in the first half and Stefan Radu was foiled by a brilliant Gianluigi Buffon save just after the half hour, but the cup winners imploded after halftime.
Juventus went further ahead in the 52nd minute when Lichtsteiner broke clear on the right and pulled the ball across for central defender Giorgio Chiellini, galloping forward to join the attack, to tap in.
Two minutes after that, Switzerland defender Lichtsteiner was rewarded with a goal himself as he burst through the centre of the defence and flicked a delicate finish past Federico Marchetti.
Almost immediately after that, Marchetti managed to keep out efforts from Lichtsteiner and Pogba only for the ball to land at the feet of Tevez who shot home .
In France Edinson Cavani’s first Ligue 1 goal salvaged a point for a wasteful Paris Saint-Germain as the French champions drew 1-1 at home against Ajaccio. PSG, who drew their opening three games last season, have two points from two matches, four less than big-spenders Monaco who thrashed Montpellier 4-1 thanks to Emmanuel Riviere’s hat-trick and a Radamel Falcao penalty.
In Germany Borussia Dortmund struggled to break down defensive Eintracht Braunschweig before substitute Jonas Hofmann, in only his fifth Bundesliga appearance, scored one goal and won a penalty for Marco Reus late in the game to give them a 2-1 win on Sunday.
Dortmund, last year’s Bundesliga and Champions League runners-up, are one of five teams to have won their opening two Bundesliga games, alongside Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Mainz and Werder Bremen. Promoted Braunschweig are one of five teams who have yet to claim their first point.
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