BARCELONA, Spain -- Ivan Rakitic scored in the first half to help Barcelona win 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday for a second straight victory at the start of the Spanish league season.The Croatia midfielder headed in a well-placed cross by Arda Turan to cap a quick attack that broke down Bilbaos high defensive line in the 21st minute.Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez were both off-target with a handful of opportunities to seal the victory at San Mames Stadium, but Barcelonas dominant possession game never let Bilbao mount a serious challenge.The matches here are always like this, intense and attractive. We played a good match, Rakitic said. This shows that we are already in form even at this stage of the season.The defending Liga champions joined Real Madrid and the surprising Las Palmas, which routed Granada 5-1 also on Sunday, as the only teams to have taken all six points.Elsewhere, Sevilla drew 0-0 at Villarreal, while Sporting Gijon drew 0-0 at Alaves.Barcelonas win was its 100th in 126 league matches under coach Luis Enrique, who is starting his third season after winning the last two leagues, along with several other titles including a Champions League crown.Its tough to play here and we go home happy, Luis Enrique said. These three points have a lot of merit. The pace was frenetic, and Athletic makes it complicated. We were facing a great rival and we could have put the result beyond doubt early on.As usual, the match at San Mames was an entertaining, up-tempo contest of two contrasting styles.The visitors fared just fine without the injured Andres Iniesta and Neymar, who wont start his season with Barcelona until after Brazils upcoming World Cup qualifiers.Once Rakitic, Messi and the rest of Luis Enriques side got their collective passing game going, they had little trouble transforming Bilbaos pressure into a fruitless pursuit of the ball.They knew we were going to pressure them. At the start, we had a couple of good chances, but as the game went on we wore down, said Bilbao manager Ernesto Valverde. We had trouble playing from behind.Barcelonas biggest scare came from a poor pass by goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who took over as first-choice in the league after Claudio Bravo moved to Manchester City.Ter Stegen made up for his pass directly to Benat Etxebarria by blocking his resulting shot with his face. Other than that mistake, the German was poised and precise with his passes from the back. The league said Ter Stegens 46 completed passes were the most by a goalkeeper since the 2005-06 season.Besides Rakitics excellent overall performance, coach Luis Enrique can also be pleased with new centerback Samuel Umtiti, as well as the continued form of Turan and Sergi Roberto.Turan had another convincing match in place of Neymar, delivering the pin-point pass for what proved to be Rakitics winner.Roberto, besides being solid in defense at right back, led a rapid counterattack that was spoiled when Suarez volleyed Rakitics cross wide in the 57th.Suarez had a golden chance to grab a goal in the dying seconds of the match when Messi laid the ball off for him with goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz off his line, but the strikers shot was cleared by Eneko Boveda.In the Canary Islands, Nabil El Zhar scored two goals and set up another to lead Las Palmas destruction of Granada.Kevin-Prince Boateng also scored his second goal since joining for Las Palmas before leaving the match because of injury.Las Palmas has started the season in fine fashion with a league-leading nine goals in two victories.Mike Brosseau Rays Jersey .2 billion agreement with Rogers Communications for the leagues broadcast and multimedia rights. Travis dArnaud Rays Jersey . "No difference at all," chirped U.S. roommate and linemate James van Riemsdyk. "Its still the same cranky Phil. https://www.cheapraysonline.com/ . MORITZ, Switzerland -- Fog prevented downhill racers from getting their Olympic dress rehearsal. Jesus Aguilar Jersey . Booth picked up 65 caps after making her national team debut in 2002 at the age of 17. She most recently played for Sky Blue FC of the National Womens Soccer League. "It just felt like it was my time to move on," she said in a phone interview from her hometown of Burlington, Ont. Ryan Yarbrough Rays Jersey . -- Ken Appleby made 32 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 2-0 win over the Belleville Bulls on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action.Leeds recall Mitch Garbutt for the Easter Monday visit of Wakefield to Headingley while Eorl Crabtree returns for Huddersfield against Salford.Huddersfield v Salford (3pm) Huddersfield dropped to the bottom of Super League after their defeat at Wakefield on Good Friday Huddersfield have prop Eorl Crabtree back after missing the defeat at Wakefield through concussion, while half-back Ryan Brierley is set to make his home debut. Winger Mason Caton-Brown and half-back Josh Wood are called up by Salford for the first time this season in place of Greg Johnson and Tommy Lee, who both picked up knee injuries in the defeat by Catalans, while prop Olsi Krasniqi returns to the 19-man squad. Salford were beaten 26-12 by Catalans in round seven Huddersfield Giants: Ryan Brierley, Danny Brough, Jake Connor, Eorl Crabtree, Leroy Cudjoe, Jamie Foster, Ryan Hinchcliffe, Craig Huby, Josh Johnson, Michael Lawrence, Jermaine McGillvary, Nathan Mason, Aaron Murphy, Larne Patrick, Sam Rapira, Oliver Roberts, Jared Simpson, Ukuma Taai, Kyle Wood.Salford Red Devils: Mason Caton-Brown, Justin Carney, Michael Dobson, Niall Evalds, Mark Flanagan, Carl Forster, George Griffin, Josh Griffin, Josh Jones, Phil Joseph, Craig Kopczak, Olsi Krasniqi, Ben Murdoch-Masila, Gareth OBrien, Junior Sau, Marr Sarsfield, Logan Tomkins, Adam Walne, Josh Wood.Hull v Warrington (3pm) Hull FC came from 20-0 down to defeat city rivals Hull KR in a thrilling Good Friday derby Head coach Lee Radford has made one change to the side that won the derby, recalling stand-off Jordan Abdull for Carlos Tuimavave, who misses his first match for the club due to concussion.Warrington have brought in full-back Jack Johnson as cover for Matty Russell in case he fails to recover from an ankle injury sustained in the win over Widnes, and there is also a place in the 19-man squad for stand-off Declan Patton. Warrington went top of Super League with a 28-10 win over Widnes Hull FC: Jordan Abdull, Josh Bowden, Gareth Ellis, Mahe Fonua, Chris Green, Danny Houghton, Sika Manu, Steve Michaels, Mark Minichiello, Curtis Naughton, Iafeta Paleaaesina, Frank Pritchard, Jamie Shaul, Marc Sneyd, Scott Taylor, Jordaan Thompson, Danny Washbrook, Liam Watts, Kirk Yeaman.ddddddddddddWarrington Wolves: Ryan Atkins, Daryl Clark, Jordan Cox, Ben Currie, Rhys Evans, Kurt Gidley, Chris Hill, Jack Hughes, Jack Johnson, George King, Tom Lineham, Declan Patton, Kevin Penny, Stefan Ratchford, Matty Russell, Chris Sandow, Ashton Sims, Joe Westerman, Ben Westwood.Leeds v Wakefield (3pm) Leeds suffered their fifth defeat in seven Super League games at Castleford on Thursday Second-rower Carl Ablett has joined fellow Grand Finalists Brett Delaney, Danny McGuire and Ryan Hall on the injury list for Leeds, who hand recalls to forwards Mitch Garbutt, Brad Singleton and Mitch Achurch.Wakefield have loose forward Tinirau Arona back from suspension to replace the injured Anthony Tupou and coach Chris Chester recalls Jason Walton and Andy Yates in place of Ashley Gibson and Stuart Howarth, who are both ruled out after picking up head knocks in the win over Huddersfield.Leeds Rhinos: Mitch Achurch, Tom Briscoe, Rob Burrow, Adam Cuthbertson, Beau Falloon, Brett Ferres, Keith Galloway, Mitch Garbutt, Ash Handley, Zak Hardaker, Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Jimmy Keinhorst, Jordan Lilley, Joel Moon, Anthony Mullally, Brad Singleton, Liam Sutcliffe, Josh Walters, Kallum Watkins.Wakefield Wildcats: Chris Annakin, Tinirau Arona, Joe Arundel, Matty Ashurst, Liam Finn, Craig Hall, Tom Johnstone, Ben Jones-Bishop, Max Jowitt, Danny Kirmond, Reece Lyne, Jacob Miller, Jonny Molloy, Scott Moore, Nick Scruton, Mickael Simon, Mikey Sio, Jason Walton, Andy Yates.Widnes v St Helens (3pm, Sky Sports 1 HD) Click here for match preview.Widnes Vikings: Patrick Ah Van, Sam Brooks, Hep Cahill, Ed Chamberlain, Chris Dean, Gil Dudson, Alex Gerrard, Tom Gilmore, Rhys Hanbury, Aaron Heremaia, Chris Houston, Macgraff Leuluai, Manase Manuokafoa, Joe Mellor, Eamon OCarroll, Setaimata Sa, Corey Thompson, Danny Walker, Matt Whitley.St Helens: Kyle Amor, Ricky Bailey, Travis Burns, Matty Dawson, Theo Fages, Joe Greenwood, Shannon McDonnell, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Tommy Makinson, Jack Owens, Dominique Peyroux, Greg Richards, James Roby, Andre Savelio, Luke Thompson, Jordan Turner, Alex Walmsley, Luke Walsh, Jon Wilkin.Catalans Dragons v Castleford (5.15pm BST, Sky Sports 1 HD) Click here for match preview.Catalans Dragons: Paul Aiton, Louis Anderson, Jason Baitieri, Thomas Bosc, Julian Bousquet, Jodie Broughton, Todd Carney, Rémi Casty, Vincent Duport, Morgan Escaré, Tony Gigot, Antoni Maria, Greg Mounis, Richie Myler, Eloi Pelissier, Pat Richards, Glenn Stewart, Dave Taylor, Willie Mason.Castleford Tigers: Ryan Boyle, Ben Crooks, Conor Fitzsimmons, Luke Gale, Keiran Gill, Ryan Hampshire, Jy Hitchcox, Tom Holmes, Andy Lynch, Will Maher, Nathan Massey, Mike McMeeken, Paul McShane, Grant Millington, Adam Milner, Greg Minikin, Joel Monaghan, Denny Solomona, Jake Webster.Wigan v Hull KR (8pm) Three quick-fire first half tries secured a 24-12 victory for Wigan over rivals St Helens on Good Friday Wigan have brought in hooker Luke Waterworth for what would be his Super League debut, replacing prop Ben Flower who damaged a hamstring in the win over St Helens.Hull KR have called up a quartet of youngsters in Will Oakes, Joe Cator, Joe Wardill and Kieran Moran after losing Chris Clarkson, James Green, Albert Kelly and Josh Mantellato in the derby defeat.Hooker John Boudebza has recovered from a hip injury.Wigan Warriors: John Bateman, Joe Bretherton, Greg Burke, Josh Charnley, Tony Clubb, Anthony Gelling, Oliver Gildart, Nick Gregson, Dom Manfredi, Lee Mossop, Sean OLoughlin, Sam Powell, Dan Sarginson, Matty Smith, Ryan Sutton, Taulima Tautai, Lewis Tierney, Joel Tomkins, Luke Waterworth.Hull KR: Mitch Allgood, Maurice Blair, John Boudebza, Joe Cator, Ben Cockayne, Kieran Dixon, James Greenwood, Graeme Horne, George Lawler, Matty Marsh, Kieran Moran, Robbie Mulhern, Will Oakes, Ryan Shaw, Ken Sio, Iain Thornley, Dane Tilse, Joe Wardill, Adam Walker.Also See:Sky Live: Widnes v St HelensSky Live: Catalans v CastlefordSmith slams Easter scheduleRugby League on Sky ' ' '
