Leo Messi was back to his best as FC Barcelona kicked off their defense of the Spanish Liga Santander with a 3-0 win at home to Deportivo Alaves on Saturday night.

Messi scored twice in what was eventually a comfortable win after a difficult first hour for Barca, who were denied time and again by a tight Alaves defense and a series of saves from keeper Fernando Pacheco.

However, once Messi opened the scoring with a clever 64th minute free kick, Barca found more space; Phillipe Coutinho scored their second with seven minutes left to play and Luis Suarez them put Messi in to round off the scoring in injury time.

Defense errors from Villarreal helped gift Real Sociedad forwards Willian Jose and Juanmi goals to give the side from San Sebastian a 2-1 in the Estadio de la Ceramica.

Gerard Moreno had put Villarreal ahead with an excellent solo goal, but after that the best news for the home side was Santi Cazorla's return to action in Spain after his long struggle with what had threatened to be a career ending ankle injury.

Saturday began with a 1-1 draw between Celta and Espanyol: Mario Hermoso's 45th minute shot gave Espanyol the lead, but Celta claimed a point after David Lopez was unfortunate to deflect a cross into his side's goal seven minutes after the break.

The season started on Friday night with a dull 0-0 draw between Girona and Valladolid, while Jose Luis Morales scored twice as Levante shocked Betis with a 3-0 win in the Benito Villamarin Stadium.

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