Super Eagles' Chukwueze set for first Super Sunday, Sadiq Umar faces Elche

After a thrilling opening weekend of the 2022/23 LaLiga Santander season, fans are ready for more action and Matchday 2 will quench that thirst with several blockbuster fixtures.

The game week kicks off on Friday through Monday night with three huge duels on the Sunday evening schedule in Athletic Club vs Valencia CF, Atlético de Madrid vs Villarreal CF and Real Sociedad vs FC Barcelona. 

There are many other intriguing fixtures this weekend including two on Friday night. The first match of the match week will see RCD Espanyol hosts Rayo Vallecano.

Andoni Iraola’s side returns to the city of Barcelona after an impressive goalless draw at the Camp Nou last weekend. Now, they’ll aim for another positive result in the capital of Catalonia.

Later on Friday night, Sevilla FC aims to jumpstart their season after a disappointing opening day defeat. They’ll be at home against newly promoted Real Valladolid and some of the Andalusian side’s new signings could debut. 

CA Osasuna defeated Sevilla on Matchday 1 and now the Pamplona-based side will seek another three-point haul at home to Cádiz CF in the first of Saturday’s games. Youngster Aimar Oroz was impressive last time and will hope for another opportunity to start for Los Rojillos. 

The LaLiga action then moves to the Balearic Islands as RCD Mallorca plays host to Real Betis, in what will be a duel between two of the most experienced coaches in the division, 63-year-old Javier Aguirre and 68-year-old Manuel Pellegrini.

Carlo Ancelotti is an experienced coach too and he’ll take his Real Madrid squad to Vigo for a Saturday night showdown against RC Celta, one which kicks off at 10 pm. Los Blancos thrashed RC Celta 5-2 early on in 2021/22 and will hope for a similarly positive result this time. 

The first Super Sunday of the season takes centre stage with three BIG matches between some of the most successful and historic clubs in Spanish football.

First off, former AC Milan star Gennaro Gattuso takes his new Valencia CF side to Bilbao to take on Ernesto Valverde’s Athletic Club, in what should be a fiercely contested battle between two physical outfits who both aspire to return to Europe this season.

Later on, Atlético de Madrid plays at home for the first time this season as it takes on Super Eagles forward, Samuel Chukwueze and his Villarreal CF teammates.

Both sides won 3-0 on the road to start this new season in the best possible way and they’ll be looking to keep that up. Atleti's João Félix registered three assists on the opening day of the campaign last weekend and could prove similarly dangerous for Unai Emery's brilliant youthful side.

On Sunday night, it is a classic of Spanish football’s top division as Real Sociedad hosts FC Barcelona. While this used to be a very daunting trip for Barça, when they suffered what was known as the ‘Anoeta Curse’, they’ve now gone 15 meetings without losing to La Real in all competitions and won this fixture 1-0 last year thanks to a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang goal. Xavi will hope for a similar result as the Blaugrana aim to put their first win on the board.

Even after that super Sunday, more action will come on Monday. Two of the newly promoted sides are in action then, first with UD Almería visiting Elche CF after the LaLiga SmartBank champions gave Real Madrid a difficult challenge in a narrow 2-1 Matchday 1 loss.

Then, Girona FC will host Getafe CF later on Monday night, with LaLiga Santander's action returning to the Estadi Montilivi for the first time since 2019.