Club record signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a late debut goal as Barcelona began their title defense with a convincing 3-0 home win over Sporting Gijon on Monday.
Birthday boy Bojan Krkic, who turned 19 three days ago, and Seydou Keita had put Barca 2-0 up at the interval before Ibrahimovic, a summer signing from Inter, netted his first goal for the club on 82 minutes.
It was a largely disappointing debut from Ibrahimovic, who was upstaged by brilliant teenager Bojan, but the goal will certainly lift some of the immense pressure to prove he is the equal of departed hero Samuel Eto’o.
Last season Barcelona lost 1-0 to Numancia on the opening day of the season but there was no slip-up this time around in a convincing win.
After a marvellous pre-season in which they won the Spanish Super Cup and European Super Cup to make it five trophies in a year, Barcelona went into their first game on a high but missing some big names.
Andres Iniesta failed to recover from injury and Lionel Messi was away on international duty with Argentina so several fringe players were given a chance to stake their claim.
European Super Cup hero Pedro Rodriguez, the latest off the club’s famous youth production line, started the match in Messi’s right wing slot while Bojan played to the left of central striker Ibrahimovic.
With just five minutes gone the tall Swede had a great chance to score a debut goal but fluffed his lines, scuffing his shot wide.
At the other end Sporting almost took a shock 10th minute lead with Brazilian debutant Maxwell, also recruited from Inter, preventing a certain goal with a last-ditch tackle.
It is the type of quality defending Barca will expect from their new Ukrainian center-half Dmytro Chygrynskiy who watched on from the stands.
With 17 minutes gone the hosts opened the scoring from a corner with Keita’s header falling to Bojan to convert at the back post.
Bojan showed quick feet to create a chance for himself on 40 minutes but his shot was deflected for a corner.
But Gijon could not hold out and two minutes before the break Dani Alves curled in a brilliant cross for Mali international Keita to head home.
In the opening stages of the second half Barca coach Pep Guardiola was forced to make a change with Eric Abidal coming on for the injured Maxwell.
The reorganizing defense were almost caught cold and Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes had to pull off a reflex save to deny Mate Bilic.
Sporting, who had the worst defense in the league last season, were looking vulnerable at every corner and Keita hit the post with a 68th minute header.
Bojan’s evening was spoiled in the 80th minute when he had to be subbed off injured and Guardiola will hope that the injuries to him and Maxwell are not serious.
With eight minutes left Ibrahimovic got his debut goal smashing in a cross from Alves to complete the scoring.
The international break means the Spanish league resumes in a fortnight with Barcelona travelling to Getafe who won their first match 4-1 at Racing Santander.
■GUDJOHNSEN LEAVES
AFP, BARCELONA, SPAIN
Iceland international striker Eidur Gudjohnsen said he is excited about the new challenge of playing for Monaco in the French first division this season after completing his move from Barcelona.
Gudjohnsen joined the Spanish giants in 2006 from Chelsea, playing 72 league matches over three seasons and helping the club to win the Champions League, the league title and the Kings Cup.
However lack of match time last season prompted the Iceland striker to seek a move elsewhere and at the weekend Monaco snapped him up for a reported fee of around 2 million euros (US$2.9 million).
“It’s a new challenge for me. Monaco are a club with a great history,” Gudjohnsen said on Monday.
“What the coach has told me about the role he expects me to play has got me excited. I hope my experience will tell and help me produce plenty of goals,” he said.
Monaco reached the 2004 Champions League final but were soundly beaten by FC Porto.
Gudjohnsen added that he is ready to be flexible for Monaco.
“I played as a midfielder for Barcelone,” Gudjohnsen said. “But I will be happy to play as a striker or in midfield. I wasn’t playing enough at Barcelona — all I want to do is play football.”
South Korean giants T1, led by “Faker,” won their fifth League of Legends (LoL) world championship crown in London on Saturday, beating China’s Bilibili Gaming (BLG) in a thrilling final. The teams were locked at 2-2 at a packed O2 arena, but T1 clinched game five to make it back-to-back titles after nearly four hours of tense action. China’s BLG started strongly, taking the first game before T1 struck back to level. The Chinese team pulled ahead again at 2-1 only for their opponents to hit back again and go on to take the decider. Faker, who won the Most
The Major League Baseball World Series trophy is headed to Los Angeles, but the party is extending all the way to Japan. People milled around local train stations yesterday morning in Tokyo as newspaper extras were ready to roll off the presses, proclaiming Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto as world champions along with their Dodgers teammates after a stirring Game 5 victory over the New York Yankees. The 30-year-old is a national hero in Japan whose face adorns billboards and TV adverts all over the country. Ohtani this year became the first player in history to hit 50 home runs and
Amber Glenn overcame a fall and her own doubts to win a maiden Grand Prix figure skating title on Saturday at the Grand Prix de France. The American skater had the lead from Friday’s short program. That and the support of the crowd got her through a tough free skate in which she fell on a triple flip and put a hand onto the ice to steady herself on two other jumps. “I didn’t feel that great out there today, but I really tried, and the audience really got me through that last half when I was doubting myself,” Glenn
WORLD SERIES: ‘The individuals that were involved in that last night was a very small segment of the east Los Angeles community,’ the Los Angeles county sheriff said Rowdy crowds took to the streets of Los Angeles after the LA Dodgers won the Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series, setting a city bus on fire, breaking into stores and lighting fireworks. A dozen arrests were reported by police on Thursday, but officials said that most fans celebrated peacefully. Video showed revelers throwing objects at police in downtown LA as sirens blared and officers told them to leave the area on Wednesday night after the Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the MLB World Series at Giants Stadium in New York. Another video showed someone standing atop