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Real Madrid made a disappointing return to La Liga as they could only draw 0-0 in Real society in the first game of his title defense.
The champions looked rusty and particularly toothless up front, scarcely creating chances to be noticed in either half, as Karim Benzema found little support from Brazilian teenage forwards Vinícius Jr and Rodrygo.
Benzema missed Real’s best opportunity in the first half when he lost his balance as he circled goalkeeper Álex Remiro and then saw a shot from the goal blocked by a dive from Sociedad defender Aritz Elustondo.
Marvin, a 20-year-old substitute, could have had a dream debut for Madrid when an opportunity presented itself, but he couldn’t keep his composure. David Silva made his first La Liga appearance in a decade when he entered as a substitute for the Society in the second half.
Coach Zinedine Zidane defended his decision to leave striker Luka Jovic on the bench. “It was difficult because we could have brought in another striker, but that would have changed our form and I didn’t want to do that, I wanted to improve our wing game by bringing open players and that’s what we did,” Zidane said. .
Zidane was asked if he had any particular problems with Jovic, who scored 27 goals in the 2018-19 season for Eintracht Frankfurt but only started four times in the league with Real in the last campaign.
“No, we have a lot of players in our squad and I have to choose them and I decided to do what I did,” he said.
“I have nothing against any player, it was about our formation and I did not want to change it and Karim was playing well.”
Despite a moderate start to his team’s title defense, Zidane said he was mostly satisfied with his performance, although he emphasized his need to be more creative on attack and more clinical.
“We lacked goal threat and a bit of clarity in attack, especially in the second half, but we played well in the first 40 minutes and in general we should be happy with what we did,” he added.
“We didn’t give them many chances and we were good on defense but we have to start working now, we know we have to improve in the face of goal. We always like to go out and win the game, so today we feel that we have lost two points ”.
Andrea Pirlo began his coaching career with a winning start as his Juventus lateral beat Sampdoria 3-0 in their first game of the Serie A season. The champions went ahead when Dejan Kulusevski scored on his debut in the 13th minute, with only his sixth touch of the ball in the Juventus jersey, before the defender Leonardo Bonucci and Cristiano Ronaldo will add more goals in the last 15 minutes.
Pirlo, the former Milan and Juventus midfielder, had no experience as a senior coach when he was surprisingly chosen to replace Maurizio Sarri in August, only earning his managerial badge last week.
Pirlo cited Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti and Antonio Conte as his biggest influences, but said his football style would be a mix of everything.
“I don’t want to copy anyone, I have my own ideas and I will follow the example of the teams that impressed me,” he said. “We haven’t had much time because the boys have only returned for a week from their commitments to the national team.”
“We saw some things today and in the friendlies but it will take time to assimilate things. We lack players but, with the ones we have, we will try to do the best we can ”.
Juve dominated possession, something Pirlo said he wanted them to do, and also aggressively pressured Sampdoria and broke quickly when they had the ball. However, they still needed two late goals to secure the three points.
“It’s about finding the right balance,” he said. “Quality players are always welcome, as long as they have the characteristics to bring balance to the team.”
Naples pounced on two defensive errors to win 2-0 in Parma in their first match as spectators they returned to Serie A for the first time since March. Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne kicked off their campaign with a winning start with goals in the second half shortly after the club’s record signing Victor Osimhen entered his debut.
A handful of fans, wearing masks and widely separated, watched the game at Parma’s Stadio Tardini after the government agreed to allow up to 1,000 spectators at matches for the first time since the Covid-19 lockdown.
Genoa, who narrowly escaped relegation last season, got off to a great start with his new coach Rolando Maran when they were promoted Crotone 4-1. Mattia Destro and Goran Pandev, 37, put them 2-0 ahead in 10 minutes before Emmanuel Rivière pulled back before half an hour. Davide Zappacosta, who made his debut on loan from Chelsea, made it 3-1 with a solo goal in the 34th minute and Marko Pjaca, signed on loan from Juventus on Saturday, added the fourth at 75.
the Sassuolo Midfielder Mehdi Bourabia shot a free kick in the 87th minute to save a 1-1 draw at home for Cagliari, who was playing his first game with former Roma coach Eusebio Di Francesco. Giovanni Simeone gave the Sardiners the lead with a dive header from a João Pedro cross in the 77th minute and three minutes later disallowed a goal for offside.
In Germany RB Leipzig facilitated past Mainz 3-1 in their first Bundesliga game to enjoy a successful start in the league without striker Timo Werner. Werner, now from Chelsea, had missed his way to the Champions League semi-finals in August, but Leipzig had no trouble finding the back of the net against Mainz, striking twice in four minutes.
Emil Forsberg converted a penalty in the 17th minute for a foul on Dani Olmo and Yussuf Poulsen soared high to head in for the second goal. Mainz cut the deficit three minutes after the restart when Quaison passed a ball through the entire Leipzig defense for Jean-Philippe Mateta to score with a good shot. However, any hope of a comeback lasted just three minutes, with Amadou Haidara giving an assist from Forsberg in the 51st minute to restore Leipzig’s two-goal cushion.
Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen played a goalless draw.
