La Liga Review: Ronaldo misfires for Madrid, Suarez leads Barcelona to victory

Real Madrid had to settle for a scoreless draw against Malaga as Cristiano Ronaldo missed a number of fine chances at the Santiago Bernabeu in La Liga on Saturday.

The Portugal international saw an early goal disallowed for offside and was then denied by Carlos Kameni on more than one occasion as he notched up 14 shots over the full 90 minutes in Madrid.

Ronaldo did beat Kameni once after the interval, but was denied by an excellent goal-line clearance from Marcos Angeleri on that occasion.

Isco was another to come close to breaking the deadlock, yet his attempt was also cleared off the line, Weligton being the hero for the away side this time around.

Madrid had another goal disallowed in the 89th minute as Luka Modric was adjudged to be in an offside position before he set up Isco.

Ronaldo once more came close in the dying seconds of the game, but his header from just yards out went over the crossbar.

Elsewhere, Barcelona bagged the full three points against Las Palmas following Luis Suarez’s double, yet they had little reason to celebrate their 2-1 win as Lionel Messi picked up a serious knee injury.

The Argentina international had an attempt blocked by Pedro Bigas after just three minutes of play and then went down clutching his knee.

He briefly returned to the pitch, but was eventually taken off in the 10th minute and has since been diagnosed with a tear in the medial collateral ligament of his left knee that will keep him out of action for seven weeks.

Suarez gifted Barca the lead halfway through the first half with a good header after Sergi Roberto’s cross from the right.

Again Suarez doubled Barca’s lead when he powered home a clever low cross from Munir, before he won a penalty in the 66th minute.

Neymar blasted his attempt from 12 yards over the bar, though, to keep Las Palmas’ hopes alive and Jonathan Viera would eventually peg one back with a shot that deflected off Gerard Pique. The guests’ were unable to add a second in the remaining time, however, as Barcelona returned to winning ways after their loss against Celta Vigo in midweek.

Furthermore, Villarreal proved to be too strong for Atletico Madrid as Leo Baptistao’s goal against his parent club made the difference.

The Brazilian found the net after 14 minutes of play following a pass from Roberto Soldado to send his team top of the table with 16 points from six games.

Sevilla, meanwhile, beat Rayo Vallecano 3-2 to bag their full three points for the first time this season.

Kevin Gameiro and Steven N’Zonzi gave the Europa League holders a two-goal lead before the break, yet Bebe and Javi Guerra found the net after the break to restore parity.

Ukraine international Yevhen Konoplyanka would eventually make the difference for Unai Emery’s men, though, as he netted the winner with four minutes remaining.

Celta were unable to build on their 4-1 win over Barcelona as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Eibar.