Lewandowski leads Barcelona to victory over Sevilla with Real Madrid in perfect shape

Robert Lewandowski (right) and Ravenha were among Barcelona’s top scorers
Madrid (AFP) – Robert Lewandowski scored again in Barcelona’s 3-0 win over Sevilla in La Liga on Saturday, while Real Madrid scored four of four victories by beating Real Betis.[expander_maker id=”1″ ]

Barcelona rode their luck early on at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan as Marc-Andre ter Stegen blocked Ivan Rakitic and Youssef En-Nesyri before the visitors scored against the course of play.

Ravenha’s header on the rebound after a poor Lewandowski effort was pushed off the goal line, but the Polish star didn’t need long to score himself.

Lewandowski controlled an aerial pass from Jules Conde on his chest and fired the ball past Bono to score his fifth league goal in four matches.

Eric Garcia scored Barcelona’s third five minutes after the break after he nodded Ravenha’s cross across goal from Conde, who Sevilla sold for 50 million euros ($49.8 million) this summer.

Barcelona, ??which hosts Victoria Plzen on Wednesday in the first round of the Champions League group stage, is two points behind Real Madrid, who beat Betis 2-1 earlier today.

Vinicius Junior scored in the third game in a row as Real Madrid took an early lead at the Santiago Bernabeu, but Sergio Canales quickly equalized with a goal against his former club.

Rodrygo secured the most points for Carlo Ancelotti’s side after just an hour with his first goal of the season.

“He is a special striker because he can play in any position. He is very fast and very smart without the ball,” Ancelotti said of Rodrygo, now in his fourth season with Real Madrid.

“The professional training is over and he is now a Real Madrid player in every respect.”

Next up for the European champion is a trip to Celtic in the Champions League.
“The team is going through a good patch now, the team has a lot of confidence,” Ancelotti said.

“The most important game of the first part of the season is coming on Tuesday. We are going to face a team in a great tour and it will be very difficult.”

The Brazilian duo Vinicius Junior (C) and Rodrygo (right) scored the two goals of Real Madrid in the Spanish League.

Playing at home for the first time this season with renovations still underway on their famous grounds, Real Madrid were lucky early on when Nabil Fekir appeared to have been fouled in the area.

The incident went unpunished and not reviewed, but Fekir injured his hamstring and had to be replaced by Luis Henrique.

Madrid quickly dealt a powerful punch as Vinicius sprinted towards David Alaba’s ball over the top, arresting Betis goalkeeper Rui Silva to score the opening goal.
Betis, who started the season with wins over Elche, Mallorca and Osasuna, responded when Borja Iglesias hit Canales’ throw-in to drive it between Thibaut Courtois’ legs.

Vinicius should have immediately regained Real Madrid’s lead, hitting a cross from Rodrygo. Silva then stopped supernaturally to head off Aurelien Chuamini.

Karim Benzema swerved and then failed to convert at close range moments after the break, and the Frenchman eventually denied with a decisive touch from Silva.

The Betis keeper pointed his fingers again at a powerful effort from Luka Modric, but Rodrygo had the last word when he pulled in Fede Valverde’s pass in the 65th minute.

Atlético Madrid drew 1-1 with its host Real Sociedad as Nigerian striker Omar Sadiq scored on his debut for the hosts.

Alvaro Morata swept a corner kick in the fifth minute, but Sadiq scored the equalizer in the second half after arriving from Almeria.

The 25-year-old joined Sociedad on the day of the transfer deadline as a replacement for Sweden striker Alexander Isak, who was signed by Newcastle last week for 58 million pounds ($68 million).

Most worrying for Atletico is that goalkeeper Jan Oblak was forced off with a leg injury of late.

“We hope it will be simple and the doctors will tell us about it in the next few days,” said Atletico coach Diego Simeone, whose team will host Porto next week in the Champions League.

Mallorca and Girona tied 1-1 at the start of the match.[/expander_maker]