Players pay respect to COVID victims; Messi extends lead in goals

From the first matches back to the amazing gestures from clubs and players herersquos a roundup of the big news out of LaLiga this weekFootball returns with the Gran Derbi It was at the Ramon SaacutenchezPizjuaacuten stadium that LaLiga got up and running again with Sevilla entertaining Real Betis in the Seville derby ndash El Gran Derbi ndash and taking home the bragging rights The hosts won 20 thanks to goals from Lucas Ocampos and Fernando keeping Julen Lopeteguirsquos men very much in the chase for third spotClubs pay their respects to COVID19 victims As football returned across Spain those who have passed away during the coronavirus crisis and their grieving family members were remembered A minute of silence was held before every match while clubs came up with their own initiatives too from banners to bouquets of flowers placed on seatsPlayers pay their respects ahead of a La Liga matchSupport for the Black Lives Matter movement Clubs across LaLiga have been expressing their support for the now global Black Lives Matter movement over the past few weeks from club statements and social media posts to players taking a knee at training and even during games Real Madridrsquos Marcelo for example took a knee and pointed to the sky after scoring against Eibar on Sunday nightThe title challengers come back with a bang Barcelona and Real Madrid sit first and second respectively in LaLiga Santander and both hit the ground running in their first games back Arturo Vidal scored for Barcelona in just the second minute of their Saturday night game at RCD Mallorca while Toni Kroos put Real Madrid one up just four minutes into their game against Eibar Barcelona went on to win 40 and Real Madrid 31 with both the teams at the top adding three points to the collectionMessi extends his lead in the goalscoring standings Lionel Messi extended his lead at the top of the goalscoring charts this weekend netting Barcelonarsquos fourth against Mallorca on Saturday night The Argentine has now hit 20 LaLiga goals this season making him the only player in history to score at least 20 goals in 12 consecutive seasons and sits six goals ahead of Real Madridrsquos Karim Benzema in secondReturns for Eden Hazard and Luis Suaacuterez Both Real Madrid and Barcelona had further cause to celebrate this weekend as they welcomed back star players from injury Eden Hazard and Luis Suaacuterez both thought their 201920 campaigns were over when they underwent surgery at the beginning of 2020 on ankle and knee issues respectively but with the season delayed the Belgian and Uruguayan forwards have made it back in time for the runinNo change down at the bottom The three teams in the LaLiga Santander drop zone remain the same as before Matchday 28 with Mallorca Leganeacutes and Espanyol still occupying the relegation spots Espanyol did however pick up a good win over Alaves on Saturday afternoon sparking some optimism around the Catalan capital that they could launch a late survival pushReal Sociedad tie up Andoni Gorosabel to a longterm deal Andoni Gorosabel has signed a new deal with Real Sociedad the club whose academy he progressed through all the way to the point where he is now a regular firstteam starter The rightback put pen to paper on a contract extension that ties him to the Basque club until 2024Matchday 32 kickoff times confirmed LaLiga have announced the kickoff times for Matchday 32 starting with Sevilla vs Real Valladolid on June 26th and ending with Getafe vs Real Sociedad on June 29thThe Visit Mallorca Estadi Mallorca have renamed their stadium until 2021 to help boost the return of tourism in the Balearic Islands following the coronavirus pandemic Previously known as Son Moix the ground is now the Visit Mallorca Estadi ldquoItrsquos the best way to tell the world that wersquore hererdquo CEO of Commercial Operations Alfonso Diacuteaz saidCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereAlso download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news