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Díaz thrives and Alaves beats 10-man Getafe 3-0 as La Liga kicks off Europe's domestic league season
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- Díaz thrives and Alaves beats 10-man Getafe 3-0 as La Liga kicks off Europe's domestic league season
MADRID (AP) — Europe's top domestic leagues kicked off Saturday with Alaves defeating 10-man Getafe 3-0 in Spain.
Mariano Díaz scored a goal and had two assists against a Getafe squad that played a man down from the 42nd minute.
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In the day's other game, Gerard "Peque" Fernandez converted a penalty deep into stoppage time as Sevilla came from behind to defeat Rayo Vallecano 2-1.
The Spanish league was the first of the main five in Europe to start , less than a month after its national team won the World Cup .
Defending champion Barcelona and José Mourinho's Real Madrid won't start their campaigns until next weekend because they had players return late from the World Cup.
Barcelona, chasing a third straight Spanish league crown, visits Elche on Aug. 23. Madrid, revamped under Mourinho after a second consecutive season without a major title, starts at Espanyol on Aug. 22.
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The European season officially started on Wednesday when Paris Saint-Germain defeated Aston Villa 2-1 in the UEFA Super Cup.
The Premier League, the Italian league and the French league start next weekend. The German league will get going the following week.
Díaz, the former Real Madrid forward, gave the pass for Nahuel Tenaglia's header in the 73rd before claiming Alaves' second goal with a well-placed shot into the top corner in stoppage time and then setting up Mikel Rodríguez's final score in the final minutes.
Getafe's Kiko Femenía was sent off for a dangerous foul just before halftime. His initial yellow card was changed into a red after video review.
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Alaves' Ángel Pérez was reprimanded by coach Quique Sánchez Flores after being substituted and punching the bench several times.
Alaves was 14th in the league last season, one point above the relegation zone.
Getafe was coming off a seventh-place finish, having earned a Conference League spot. The Madrid club has added Enes Unal and Johan Mojica to its squad this season but neither were included in the starting lineup. Unal came off the bench in the second half.
Sevilla hosted a Vallecano team in turmoil amid administration issues that have kept the club out of its Vallecas stadium for the beginning of the season. It must play its first home game at second-tier Leganes' venue because of unsafe conditions.
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Rayo finished eighth last season and reached the Conference League final, which it lost to Crystal Palace.
Sevilla finished 13th, also one point above the relegation zone.
Three Spanish league games are scheduled for Sunday but only two will take place because the match between Celta Vigo and Osasuna has had to be postponed because of a fungus outbreak on Celta's Balaidos field. It's rescheduled to Aug. 27 despite complaints by Osasuna.
The two Sunday games will include Racing Santander's return to the top flight after a 14-year absence. It hosts Villarreal, the third-place finisher last season behind Barcelona and Madrid. Levante visits Espanyol.
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