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#3 Eric Lamela (Sevilla)
Former Tottenham Hotspur man Eric Lamela did not get the chance to start the La Liga opener for Sevilla. However, that did not stop him from making a telling impact, coming off the bench.
Lamela was substituted in for Oussama Idrissi before the start of the second half and the Argentine took the opportunity with both hands.
It only took him 10 minutes to get on the scoresheet for Sevilla. His shot took a nasty deflection inside the box to beat the Rayo Vallecano keeper. His second and Sevilla’s third goal of the night came with just over three minutes to play. Lamela took part in Sevilla’s fast-breaking counter and got on the end of Youssef En-Nesyri’s low cross to book his first brace in the Spanish top-flight.
#2 Martin Braithwaite (Barcelona)
The departure of Lionel Messi has not been easy on 26-time La Liga winners Barcelona. They are being forced to rewrite their game plan from scratch and do not have the luxury of going trophyless for a season. Thankfully, their first game of the season had no signs of the catastrophe that had befallen, and it was mostly down to one man — Martin Braithwaite.
Martin Braithwaite is not the most revered name in the Barcelona dressing room. Regardless, it was his tenacity that allowed Barcelona to nick all three points against Real Sociedad at home. Braithwaite scored his first in injury time of the first half, guiding Frenkie de Jong’s ball past the Sociedad keeper.
His well-taken second came in the second forty-five — again through a headed effort. The Denmark international was in the right place at the right time to capitalize on Remiro’s botched clearance, which ultimately helped Barcelona pick up a 4-2 win at Camp Nou to get their La Liga campaign off to a flyer.
#1 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema, who was on the scoresheet at Deportivo Alaves, was Los Blancos’ and La Liga’s player of the week. With Sergio Ramos gone and Marcelo left out of the starting XI, Karim Benzema was awarded the captain’s armband, and he did its reputation no harm.
The Frenchman, who is coming into La Liga on the back of four goals at UEFA Euro 2020, looked sharp from the get-go and put the Alaves defenders under pressure. He could not find the back of the net in the first half, but came out all guns blazing in the second forty-five minutes.
It took Benzema only three minutes after the restart to put Real Madrid ahead. The 33-year-old was neatly set up by Eden Hazard and he made no mistake from close range. His second goal came just past the hour mark, from a rebound. Fernando Pacheco did well to stop his first attempt but the second was well out of reach. A convincing Karim Benzema-performance was all Real Madrid needed to cruise to a comfortable La Liga victory away from home in their very first match of the league season.
