Real Madrid has survived the Almeria scare as they pull a late-minute come-back to beat Almeria 2-1 in the La Liga opener. Lucas and Alaba were on target as the Los Blancos kickstart their 2022-2023 La Liga campaign on a winning note.
Real Madrid: LineUp
Courtois, Lucas, Rüdiger, Nacho, Mendy, Camavinga, Tchouameni, Kross, Valverde, Benzema y Vinicius
Almeria: LineUp
Fernando; Chumi, Kaiky, Rodrigo Ely, Babic, Akieme; Samu, Eguaras, Robertone; Ramazani y Sadiq
The Los Blancos have survived a scary first-half display by the newly-promoted side, Almeria, as they return to overturn a one-goal deficit. Lucas and Alaba did the late-minute magic as they finally break through Almeria’s brick wall defense to avert a defeat and hand Carlo Ancelotti a deserving opening win.
It was basically a one-sided encounter between the 2021-2022 La Liga and Champions League winners and the newly promoted hosts. Ramzani had sparked and let a more aggressive Los Blancos team after a quick and surprise goal for the hosts just seven minutes into the first half of the game.
Real Madrid dominated the game from the start as the match kicked off. The Los Blancos were eager to build on last season’s success as they tackled their hosts in a mostly one-sided game.
Real Madrid pushed the hosts into their half as they pressed deep and charged for an opening goal. Almeria sat back comfortably to resist advances by their opponents.
In a surprise turn of events, Almeria laid hands on their first set piece in the game in the 7th minute. Eguaras rightly located Ramzani, who charged forward and fired into the net to give the hosts the lead.
The Los Blancos fumes with more aggression, speed, and intense pressure as they attempt to pull an equalizer quickly. Benzema came close to finding an equalizer for the visitors but fired blank.
It was Vasquez who got a goal in the 42nd minute, but it was ruled out for an offside, and the visitors headed into the break with a 1-0 deficit.
Both sides resumed proceedings in the second half, but the Los Blancos charged more for an equalizer as the hosts retired into the defense line. It was a difficult game for the visitors as they failed to navigate their way through the solid Almeria defense.
The deadlock was broken in the 61st minute. Lucas picked the ball in the box and fired it into the net to tie the match for the host.
Almeria began to lose their stranglehold on the defensive line as they attempted to push for a second, all to no avail. Alabama converted a freekick to make it 2-1 for the Los Blancos in the 80th minute.
The Ancelotti-led team continued to dominate the game and overwhelmed their host. The Los Blancos grabbed a crucial opening win as the battle to retain the La Liga title officially kicked off.
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