Lionel Messi scored in his first game since trying to leave Barcelona as Ronald Koeman began his tenure as coach by overseeing a 4-0 LaLiga demolition of Villarreal on Sunday.
Messi converted from the spot 10 minutes before half-time and then the Argentine’s cross forced Pau Torres into scoring an own goal, after an early double from the 17-year-old Ansu Fati had already put Barca in charge.
It meant Barcelona’s past, present and future were all among the goals on the same afternoon as Luis Suarez, whose departure was confirmed on Thursday, marked his Atletico Madrid debut by scoring twice in a 6-1 win over Granada.
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In a farewell message to his best friend last week, Messi took another swipe at the Barca board by saying he was not surprised by the clumsy way Suarez’s exit had been handled.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to salvage a point for 10-man Juventus in a 2-2 draw at Roma in Serie A on Sunday.
Champion Juventus was trailing 2-1 and was a man down at the hour mark following Jordan Veretout’s brace for the hosts and Adrien Rabiot's sending off. But a towering Ronaldo header earned the equaliser in the 69th minute.
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The results:
LaLiga: Eibar 1 (Kike 48) lost to Athletic Bilbao 2 (Lopez 40, 87); Osasuna 1 (Torres 38) lost to Levante 3 (Melero Manzanares 41, Roger 77, Morales 81); Atletico Madrid 6 (Costa 9, Correa 47, Felix 65, Llorente 72, Suarez 85, 90+3) bt Granada 1 (Jorge Molina 87).
Cadiz 1 (Salvador Sanchez Ponce 48) lost to Sevilla 3 (L. de Jong 65, Munir 90, Rakitic 90+4); Valladolid 1 (Navarro 66-pen) drew with Celta Vigo 1 (Aspas 44); Barcelona 4 (Fati 15, 19, Messi 35-pen, Torres 45-og) bt Villarreal 0.
Serie A: Spezia 1 (Galabinov 31) lost to Sassuolo 4 (Djuricic 12, Berardi 64-pen, Defrel 66, Caputo 76); Hellas Verona 1 (Favilli 57) bt Udinese 0; Crotone 0 lost to AC Milan 2 (Kessie 45+2-pen, Diaz 50); Napoli 6 (Lozano 10, 65, Zielinski 46, Mertens 57, Elmas 69, Politano 72) bt Genoa 0.
Sampdoria 2 (Quagliarella 8, Colley 18) lost to Benevento 3 (Caldirola 33, 72, Sau 88); Roma 2 (Veretout 31-pen; 45+1) drew with Juventus 2 (Ronaldo 43-pen, 69).
Sunday: Premier League: West Ham 4 (Bowen 17, 57, Jimenez 66-og, Haller 90+3) bt Wolves 0.
Bundesliga: Freiburg 1 (Petersen 11) drew with Wolfsburg 1 (Brekalo 42),
Serie A: Torino 2 (Belotti 10, 43) lost to Atalanta 4 (Gomez 12, Muriel 21, Hateboer 42, Marten de Roon 54); Sampdoria 2 (Quagliarella 8, Colley 18) lost to Benevento 3 (Caldirola 33, 72, Sau 88).