Barcelona started defending their La Liga title today with an impressive 3-0 win at Santander. Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta scored in the first half and David Villa scored his first goal in La Liga with the blaugrana jersey in the second half to make it 3-0.
Despite some wrong referee calls against Barcelona, like giving Santander a disputable (at best) penalty and wrongly disallowing David Villa's goal at the end of the first half, Barcelona had no trouble securing the three points and won this match at ease.
The only bad news is that Carles Puyol got injured right before the match and Xavi was replaced at halftime also due to injury. Fortunately, according to Barcelona's official website, both Puyol and Xavi's injuries are minor. They were only rested as a precaution and will be back in no time.
All in all, an easy victory for Barcelona. Fans have every reason to believe that this team will bring a lot of success to the club this season.