Socceroo makes sorry start to new La Liga season

Coming off the disappointment of losing his starting spot at the World Cup and then failing to help the Socceroos overcome Egypt in the round-of-32 penalty shootout, Australian goalkeeper Maty Ryan has been beaten on the opening weekend of the Spanish season.

The 34-year-old shot stopper helped Levante stay in La Liga with some heroic efforts between the posts, but he was unable to begin the new campaign in similar fashion on Sunday (Monday AEST).

The Valencia-based club went down 3-0 in Barcelona to Espanyol thanks to a pair of first-half goals from Roberto Fernandez and a late effort from Tyrhys Dolan.

La Liga is the first of the main five leagues in Europe to start, less than a month after Spain's national team won the World Cup.

Levante barely escaped relegation last season, in 16th and only above the drop zone due to their better head-to-head record with 18th-placed Mallorca, while Espanyol finished 11th after a strong start. They later endured an 18-game winless streak.

Ryan faced 16 shots, four of which were on target, and he thwarted three of them as the visitors struggled.

Elsewhere, Racing Santander made their return to the top flight after a 14-year absence with a 2-2 draw against Villarreal, the third-placed finishers last season behind champions Barcelona and second-placed Real Madrid.

Racing led 2-0 at home before Villarreal levelled with goals a minute apart late in the first half.

Another game had been scheduled for Sunday, Celta Vigo against Osasuna, but it had to be postponed because of a fungus outbreak on Celta's Balaidos field.

Barcelona and Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid won't start their campaigns until next weekend because they had players return late from the World Cup.

Two games took place on Saturday, with Alaves defeating Getafe 3-0 and Sevilla rallying to beat Rayo Vallecano 2-1.