Rafa Benítez’s Real Madrid start with stalemate at Sporting Gijón

By The Guardian

Rafa Benítez suffered an embarrassing setback in his first La Liga outing in charge of Real Madrid when they were held to a 0-0 draw at promoted Sporting Gijón in their opening match of the season on Sunday.

Real’s expensively assembled squad, including Fifa Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, the world’s most expensive player, could not find a way past Gijón’s determined defence at el Molinón.

The hosts – whose resources are a fraction of those of their illustrious visitors – also created chances and when Arnaldo Sanabria headed against the underside of the crossbar in the first half, television replays showed it may have just crossed the goalline.

Barcelona’s Luis Suárez avenges defeat by Super Cup holders Athletic Bilbao

Barcelona got their La Liga campaign off to a winning start when Luis Suárez scored with a fine volley shortly after half-time to secure a hard-fought 1-0 win atAthletic Bilbao on Sunday.

The Spanish and European champions’ victory at the San Mamés Stadium, despite Lionel Messi having a first-half penalty saved, was sweet revenge for Barça following their 5-1 aggregate defeat by Bilbao in this month’s Spanish Super Cup.

It came at some cost, however, as both the midfielder Sergio Busquets and the full back Dani Alves suffered injuries that ended their participation in the game.

A well-organised and hard-pressing Bilbao made life difficult early on for Barça who are hoping to win their sixth La Liga title in eight years.

But in the 30th minute Suárez was tripped by Gorka Elustondo in the penalty area and Messi stepped up to take the spot kick.

The Bilbao goalkeeper, Gorka Iraizoz, made a fine diving stop, becoming only the second man after Valencia’s Diego Alves to save a penalty from both Messi and the Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo.