Alaves the heroes of the week in Spanish Liga

Newly promoted Deportivo Alaves produced the surprise of the week and perhaps of the season when they won 2-1 away to FC Barcelona in the third round of games in Spain's Primera Liga.

Barca rested key players and paid the price for leaving Leo Messi, Luis Suarez and Andres Iniesta on the bench and Sergi Roberto and Gerard Pique in the stands against a rival who showed themselves to be rock solid in defense and effective in attack.

Alaves took the lead in the 39th minute when Kiko Feminia's cross was stabbed home by Deyverson, who reached quicker than Javier Mascherano six yards from goal.

Jeremy Mathieu headed home Neymar's corner a minute after halftime, but they were stunned just after the hour when Ibai Gomez took advantage of Mascherano's error to beat Cillessen with a diagonal finish and although Messi, Suarez and Iniesta were all introduced, Alaves held on relatively comfortably for a famous win.

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated his return from injury with the opening goal of Real Madrid's 5-2 win at home to Osasuna.

Danilo, Sergio Ramos, Pepe and Modric completed the scoring for Real Madrid on a day when Karim Benzema also returned following a troublesome back problem. Oriol Riera and David Garcia netted late headers to allow Osasuna to salvage some pride for the visitors.

Antoine Griezmann was the man of the match with two goals and an assist as Atletico Madrid claimed their first win of the season with a 4-0 triumph away to Celta Vigo.

Greizmann set up Koke to score from close range early in the second half and then scored two powerful headers, before Angel Correa scored the fourth of the game.

Sevilla scored goals in the 89th and 93rd minute to beat Las Palmas 2-1, while Villarreal secured their first win under new coach Fran Escriba as Jaume Costa and Sansonne gave them a 2-0 win away to Malaga.

Sporting Gijon have 7 points from three games after a 2-1 win over Leganes thanks to goals from Nacho Cases and a Duje Cop penalty.

Valencia lost their third consecutive game of the season, but will take some consolation following a brave fightback against Betis. Ruben Castro and Joaquin had put Betis 2-0 ahead and it looked all over for Valencia when Enzo Perez was sent off.

However, Rodrigo and Ezequiel Garay drew Valencia level in a three-minute spell before Castro broke their hearts with an injury time winner for the visitors.

Raul Garcia's 30-yard strike gave Athletic Club Bilbao their first win and first points of the season thanks to a 1-0 win away to Deportivo la Coruna, while 10-man Eibar claimed a 2-1 win away to Granada in a game where Granada goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa had a game to forget and Sergi Enric claimed all three points for the visitors in the 93rd minute.

Even though goalkeeper Asier Riesgo was sent off in the first half for a professional foul, Pedro Leon put Eibar ahead after the ball bounced badly in front of Ochoa and although Artem Kravets levelled the score with 15 minutes remaining, Enric's finish left Granada with a lot of questions to answer.

Source : XINHUA