La Liga round-up: Celta Vigo defeated in Europa League opener

There were three matches involving La Liga clubs played on Thursday: two in the league, and one in the Europa League. Celta Vigo were in European action against Stuttgart, while the domestic matches saw Barcelona take on Real Oviedo and Osasuna hosting Elche at El Sadar.

Celta Vigo fall short on return to Europa League

Stuttgart 2-1 Celta Vigo

Celta Vigo lost out to Bundesliga side Stuttgart in their first European match in over eight years. Claudio Giraldez’s side managed to see out the first half without conceding, but a mere six minutes into the second period, they fell behind courtesy of a goal from Badredine Bouanani. And soon after, Bilal El Khannouss made it 2-0 with a lovely finish into the bottom corner following a set-piece routine.

Borja Iglesias netted in the 86th minute to give Celta hope of a late fightback, but in the end, they could not find an equaliser. They are back in Europa League action next week as they host PAOK Thessaloniki at Balaidos.

Osasuna 1-1 Elche

Osasuna were held at home to Elche in a captivating encounter at El Sadar. The hosts took the lead early on in fine fashion as Victor Munoz curled an unstoppable effort past Barcelona loanee Inaki Pena, but despite leading for over 80 minutes, Los Rojillos could not hang on. The visitors struck in stoppage time as Adria Pedrosa scored into an empty net following a major error from Sergio Herrera.

The result means that Osasuna have remained in 13th place in the La Liga standings, thus continuing a rather disappointing start to the new season for them. On the other hand, Elche are flying, as they continued their unbeaten start with a fourth draw to go along with two victories. They rise to fifth with this result.