(Football news) Real Madrid defeated Real Betis 2-1 in their first home game of the season. Carlo Ancelotti benched Antonio Rudiger, Fede Valverde and Toni Kroos while Rodrygo started a game for the first time this season. It took Los Blancos just 8 minutes to score the opener after David Alaba played a long ball in towards Vinicius Jr who chipped the goalkeeper to score his 3rd goal of the season. Betis did equalise in the 16th minute as Borja Iglesias trapped a long throw-in before passing it to former Real Madrid player Sergio Canales who scored. The Merengues responded really well as they controlled the ball and created a lot of chances but couldn't find the back of the net. Ancelotti brought on Fede Valverde in the 63rd minute and the Uruguayan made an instant impact by assisting Rodrygo for Madrid's 2nd goal.
Betis couldn't create any clear cut chances and the game ended at 2-1. Tchouaméni continued his incredible start as he was named the man of the match. Real Madrid are yet to feel the void left by Casemiro as Tchouaméni has done an incredible but he will definitely be tested more as the season progresses. Karim Benzema has not had a good start to the season. He hasn't looked as sharp as he was last season but it is a good sign that Madrid are able to win all their games despite the lack of impact by Benzema. It is only a matter of time before the Frenchman does start firing and when that happens Real Madrid will be even better.
Barcelona defeated Sevilla 3-0 at the Sanchez Pizjuan stadium with an incredible performance. Xavi once again started with Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba on the bench. Robert Lewandowski lead the line with Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha on either side of him. Ronald Araujo started as a centre back with Jules Kounde on the right. As for Sevilla, Isco and Ivan Rakitic started for the first time this season. It was a good start from Sevilla but they couldn't take their chances. Former Real Madrid player Isco in particular had some really good moments in the opening 20 minutes. Barcelona finally got into the game and broke the deadlock in the 21st minute via Raphinha who scored his first La Liga goal.
The opening goal was against the run of play and rocked Sevilla as the away side took control of the game. 15 minutes later Jules Kounde played a sumptuous cross into the box which was finished calmly by Lewandowski to make it 2-0 to Barcelona. Kounde got another assist in the 2nd half as Eric Garcia scored his first Barcelona goal. Barcelona had a lot of chances to make it 4-0 but didn't find the back of the net. Sevilla now have only 1 point in 4 La Liga games which is a worrying sign for Julen Lopetegui. They had decent moments in the game but weren't clinical enough.
Atletico Madrid dropped points for the 2nd time this season as they were held to a 1-1 away from home by Real Sociedad. Alvaro Morata broke the deadlock inside 5 minutes as he scraped a goal from Yannick Carrasco's corner. Morata looked to have scored his 2nd of the game 25 minutes later but the goal was chalked off by VAR for a handball by Joao Felix in the build up. Antoine Griezmann was once again subbed in after the 60th minute which more or less confirms the reports that the club is doing this to avoid the clause which would force them to pay money to Barcelona in order to sign Griezmann on a permanent deal. New signing Umar Sadiq scored just 10 minutes into his La Real debut to put his side on level terms in the 54th minute with a header off Mohamed-Ali Cho's cross. Jan Oblak had to be taken off due to an injury in the 85th minute which will be a massive blow if it is serious. Atleti had a few very good chances to score the winner but Real Sociedad held on to a draw.
Also read: Analysis of Real Madrid's business in the summer transfer window
