Real Madrid – Athletic Club: A flying start for Los Blancos (2-0)

Jude Bellingham scored in his LaLiga debut, together with Rodrygo handed Madrid their first three points of the season, and deservedly so. Real Madrid were overly dominant throughout the entire game, with little resistance coming from the other end.

Tactical analysis and match report by Huu Trung.

For the first time in their 121 years history, Real Madrid kicked off their season without a traditional nine in their squad after the departure of Benzema, as the forever-lasting affairs at Mbappe doesn’t seem to be anywhere close to an end. To make matters worse, their already shaky defense also suffered a huge, huge blow after the all mighty Courtois shockingly tore his left ACL, which left their starting spot between the posts to Lunin in the demanding cauldron of San Mames in the first game of the season. Ancelotti tried to compensate for the absence of a striker by deploying a diamond formation during pre-season, which did show some promise but at the same time raised several questions.

And that was again how he lined his team up in the first game of the LaLiga season. The four-man backline in front of Lunin was formed by Carvajal, Militão, Alaba and Fran García. Four youngsters formed a dynamite midfield: Tchouaméni pivoted the play, Valverde and Camavinga started on either side whilst their latest Galactico - Jude Bellingham, occupied the tip of the diamond. The frightening Brazilian duo, Vinícius and Rodrygo acted as the striker partnership up front.

For Athletic Club, their major departure was Iñigo Martínez, who joined Barcelona as a free agent. They came into the match with a very inexperienced center-back duo in Dani Vivian and Aitor Paredes . . .

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