Reuters
Madrid, August 24: Rafa Benitez 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 Gijon in their opening match of the season Sunday.
Real’s expensively assembled squad could not find a way past Gijon’s determined defence at the Molinon.
There were no such problems for Real’s great rivals Barcelona, who got their bid for a sixth La Liga title in eight years off to a winning start when Luis Suarez buried a fine volley shortly after halftime to secure a hard-fought 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao.
The Spanish and European champions’ victory at the San Mames, in which Lionel Messi had a first-half penalty saved, was sweet revenge for Barca following their 5-1 aggregate defeat by Bilbao in this month’s Spanish Super Cup.
It came at some cost, however, as both midfielder Sergio Busquets and fullback Dani Alves picked up injuries that ended their participation in the game.
They will have tests on Monday and coach Luis Enrique said neither injury appeared to be serious.
“We know that these kinds of matches give us strength in our effort to win La Liga,” Suarez told Spanish television.
“We also knew that they would be a very difficult, very tough opponent,” added the Uruguay striker.
Gijon goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar was on fine form, particularly against Ronaldo, while Real’s approach play looked lethargic and too many passes went astray.
Gijon also created chances and when Arnaldo Sanabria headed against the underside of the bar in the first half, television replays showed it may have just crossed the goal line.
