Real Madrid suffered its first loss of the new season ahead of the Champions League opener. The final minutes, in particular—featuring a disallowed dream goal and a missed penalty kick—were especially dramatic.
A few days before the start of the Champions League, José Mourinho made three changes for the away game against fellow Champions League contender Real Betis following the recent 4-0 win over Málaga. In defense, Dumfries and Konaté replaced Alexander-Arnold and Rüdiger. Arda Güler also started in place of Brahim Díaz.
In the opening minutes, however, the focus was less on the game than on the ball itself. The Royals complained several times about deflated balls, which took up quite a bit of time. It wasn’t until about ten minutes in that the issue was resolved, and both teams were able to refocus on the game.
Mbappé misses a double chance
And the pace was quite fast: Neither side held back, deploying their attacking lines quickly and directly. After a great chance by Huijsen (12′), Vinicius Junior hit the outside post from a tight angle shortly thereafter (15′). At the other end, first Antony forced Courtois into a save (18th), and then Cucho Hernandez narrowly missed the goal with a first-time shot (21st).
After that, however, the match took a brief breather. Real lacked the drive toward the goal, while Coach Manuel Pellegrini’s team was able to clear the ball effectively time and again. It wasn’t until a little later that the star-studded Madrid side took control of the game once more—only to squander top-notch chances. A double chance by Mbappé, which substitute and former Dortmund player Bartra cleared off the line (42′), was followed by a header from Bellingham (45′), which Betis goalkeeper Valles brilliantly saved. So the teams went into the locker rooms scoreless.
Real’s Minds Already on the Champions League
After the restart, however, Mourinho’s team struggled significantly again—and was lucky not to find themselves a man down. After Arda Güler had already been shown a yellow card in the first half, he committed another foul worthy of a yellow against former Munich player Roca but got away without a second yellow (54′).
The pace that had characterized the end of the first half had completely evaporated, and the Royals posed hardly any threat. A shot by Mbappé (67′) was the only real chance for a long time. It wasn’t until the closing stages that things really heated up. In the 81st minute, substitute Parrott struck a blow right to the heart of the Royals, scoring on a rebound to make it 1–0 for the home team.
After that, Real pressed forward; Mbappé hit the crossbar with a wayward cross (85th minute), and then Espi saved the visitors with a beautiful bicycle kick. But the goal was disallowed due to an offside call (89th minute). Deep into stoppage time, Madrid was even awarded a penalty after Natan fouled Vinicius Junior. Mbappé took the kick but was denied by Valles (90’+4). In the end, Real suffered their first narrow loss of the season.
Both teams now have Champions League matches on the schedule this week. Real Betis faces Lille OSC on Tuesday (9:00 p.m.). At the same time, Real Madrid hosts Inter Milan.