It’s a scrappy one, but Real Madrid won’t care. Vinicius carved it out before the ball fell to Benzema, and then his effort scrambled free in the six-yard box for Lucas to sweep home. It’s 1-1. Another change for Real Madrid, and the new boy’s LaLiga Santander debut has come to an end.
Benzema has a shot well saved by Fernando, and then Ely shows real bravery to throw himself at it and head away. The goalkeeper looks to have hurt himself with that stop. The newcomers are halfway to a huge upset against the champions. Real Madrid are dominating, but they’re behind at the break and without having carved out too much in the way of clear-cut opportunities.
Wow. We didn’t see this coming, but the hosts are ahead. Antonio Rudiger was caught napping, and Ramazani punished him as he went through on Courtois’ goal and finished well. Carlo Ancelotti has named his team two hours before kick off, and there are some changes to the team that won the UEFA Super Cup.
The champions saw rivals Barcelona drop points last night and Carlo Ancelotti will hope his Real Madrid side can already start to put some distance between themselves and the troubled Catalans in what is just the first matchday of the 2022/23 campaign. League openers tend to go the Italian’s way, too, having lost just one of 26 in his illustrious career to date.
Real Madrid will be without Rodrygo Goes on the night due to muscle discomfort, while Almeria are without right-back Juanjo Nieto and centre-back Ivan Martos.
DAVID ALABA FREEKICK! pic.twitter.com/soTWUl6vH4
— TC (@totalcristiano) August 14, 2022