In a performance thatโs sure to be compared unfavorably with the omnipotence that came before, Real Madrid survived a slow start, got an early assist and late goal from the debuting Isco, and secured three points from Real Betis, downing the Seville side 2-1 in the teamsโ Spanish season opener. But with Barcelona having cruised to a 7-0 victory over Levante in the dayโs opener, theย Merenguesโ performance will likely be viewed in an unfavorable light, perhaps unreasonably so.
For around 20 minutes at the Bernabeu, Real Betis were their hostsโ equal, with Cedric (tormenting all day) torching Sergio Ramos to create Jorge Molinaโs 14th minute opener. Despite playing on a field apparently tipped toward Stephan Andersonโs goal, Betis keptย Los Blancosย off the scoresheet until Karim Benzemaโs 26th minute opener โ a left-footed finished from the left of goal, blasted into the far side netting.
Instead of allowing the floodgates to open, the Andalusians nearly survived through full-time, holding a lineup featuring Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Ozil, Luka Modric and Isco at bay for another hour. That scoresheet, however, flattered Betis, with Real Madrid able to consistently build through the same left side that yielded their first goal. The second half gave the impression a Merenguesโ winner was only a matter of time.
In the 86th minute, time finally caught up with Betis, with Real Madridโs big offseason acquisition paying immediate dividends. Isco, the 21-year-old attacking midfielder bought from Mรกlaga this summer, had already assisted on Benzemaโs opener, but a sharp run near full-time to get in front of defender Damien Perquis allowed him to head home a Marcelo cross from six yards out, saving his new club from what would have been a dominant albeit disappointing result.
In the big picture, Real Madridโs win seems a bit of an archetype โ a game where a team dominates throughout (if, in this case, 70-plus minutes) but canโt find a winner until the end. Itโs an uncommon but not particularly rare occurrence, though since it was juxtaposed against Barcelonaโs dominance, Real Madridโs going to be depicted as somewhat lacking.
Perhaps thatโs fair. Barcelona did win by seven goals. But Real Madrid was facing a much better team, and while their final looks superficially close, they were the much better side.
Carlo Ancelotti also made a number of interesting choices with his XI and setup. Managing his first match in the capital, the teamโs lack of familiarity with his tweaks may have influenced the final score.
Weโll dig deeper on those tweaks later (edit: here). For now, a few hours after theyโve finished their openers, itโs hard to avoid the comparisons between Barcelona and Real Madrid.
