Real Madrid swerve scare at Almeria to begin title defence with win

MADRID, 15th August, 2022 (WAM) — Real Madrid came back from behind to get their Liga title defence off to a winning start as Los Blancos sealed a 2-1 victory over Almería at the Estadio Mediterráneo.

Almería, who have conceded a total of 21 goals in their last five meetings with Real Madrid, took a shock lead in the ninth minute to send the Los Rojiblancos fans wild.

Largie Ramazani latched onto a beautifully weighted outside of the foot through ball from Íñigo Eguaras to race clear of the defence and place a low shot beyond Thibaut Courtois in the Madrid goal.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side responded brilliantly, and created many clear-cut chances to get back on level terms. The pick of the bunch was just a few minutes after the opening goal, but Karim Benzema could only send Vinicius Jr’s cut-back into the box from the left byline over the bar from five yards out.

Los Blancos eventually had their equaliser in the 61st minute as Lucas Vazquez struck. The right-back advanced forward to place home a low strike from inside the box following a cut-back from Benzema.

Then, with his first touch after coming on as a late substitute, David Alaba won it for Real Madrid with a superbly struck free-kick 15 minutes from time to break Almeria hearts after such a spirited showing by the newly-promoted side in what was their first La Liga match in seven years.