Only Real Madrid remained to conclude this first day of La Liga . Three days after FC Barcelona's inaugural victory in Mallorca (3-0), the new face of the Casa Blanca with Xabi Alonso at the helm finally revealed itself with the reception of Osasuna. Little information was leaked before the match since Real only played a friendly in preparation (4-0 against WSG Tirol). However, there were many changes this summer between the bench and the 4 new recruits who arrived. 3 of them started in the eleven, Alexander-Arnold, Huijsen and Carreras. In this team organized in 4-3-3, Arda Güler also started in support of Mbappé, Vinicius Jr and Brahim Diaz.
We didn't really know what to expect before kickoff with this new-look Real Madrid. Xabi Alonso's men quickly confiscated the ball to observe a seat too far from the opposing goal. The first shot, from 20 meters, came from Carreras (7th) and went wide. Generally, the players often passed through the left flank where a nice duel between Vinicius and Rozier began. The whole thing lacked rhythm and coordination. The Madrid players remained too often static and forced the ball to be placed at their feet. Inevitably, there wasn't enough movement to destabilize a well-positioned but inoffensive team. The Merengue's pressing wasn't enough to satisfy either.
Mbappé, the only bright spot
He was too regularly the initiator of one or two players but never followed by the rest of the block. As you will have understood, this first half was disappointing, only slightly enhanced by some flashes of brilliance from Mbappé, author of a curling shot off target (34th). Conversely, Budimir sent a slight tremor through the Real defense (42nd). Despite the ambient lethargy, Xabi Alonso started with the same eleven in a second half, quickly enlivened by Mbappé. His acceleration in the box forced Juan Cruz into a foul. He took justice into his own hands with a penalty (1-0, 51st). The Frenchman showed himself more and more and asserted himself as the player to watch of the evening.
There was this new breakthrough on the right with this cross to Vinicius, whose shot was blocked in extremis (57th), then this series of dribbles which raised Santiago Bernabéu (66th). A very poor result all the same. The entry of Mastantuono (68th), much applauded by his new fans, did not have the gift of waking his team up. Worse still, Real did not press at all once the ball was lost, contrary to what Xavi Alonso wants to put in place. Real even played to scare themselves (a little) with these two scares in the box (85th, 87th), without consequence. Mastantuono in turn distinguished himself with this shot from a tight angle (89th). The Casa Blanca ended up winning 1-0 against Osasuna , who finished with ten men following Bretones' red card (90th + 4) and moved up to 8th place in La Liga . Xabi Alonso will no doubt be satisfied with just the victory tonight.
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