BILBAO: Rodrygo and new recruit Jude Bellingham scored first-half goals to give Real Madrid a 2-0 win at Athletic Bilbao to kick off their La Liga season on Saturday.

Player-of-the-match Bellingham looked unstoppable as he made relentless challenges and created several opportunities up front.

The 20-year-old Bellingham combined well with Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr in the new 4-4-2 formation.

Real opened the scoring in the 28th minute after a mistake from Athletics defence, who failed to clear a challenge won against Dani Carvajal inside the box. Rodrygo was fast enough to react and recover the loose ball, netting a clever finish between goalkeeper Unai Simon and the near post.

Bellingham then netted a delightful volley eight minutes later after latching onto a David Alaba corner with an arching shot which looped over Simon.

Meanwhile, Real lost defender Eder Militao, who left the pitch in tears with what looked like a left knee injury five minutes after the break.

“After the tests carried out on our player Militao, he has been diagnosed with a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee,” the club said.

Militao’s injury leaves only three fit centre backs for Real as the season gets underway — Nacho, Antonio Ruediger and David Alaba.

Elsewhere Real Sociedad were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw by Girona.

The Basque side went ahead when Takefusa Kubo struck but were pegged back by Artem Dovbyk’s header.

Antonio Raillo earned Mallorca a 1-1 draw at promoted Las Palmas, who took the lead through Jonathan Viera’s penalty.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2023