Real Madrid secured a 2-1 victory over Espanyol, with Carlos Espí scoring the winning goal in the 90th minute. This marked a successful start to José Mourinho's second spell in charge of the club. Espí, who was one of the standouts of LaLiga last season, scored his 11th goal in the league since February 27, the most by any player in that span. Real Madrid reportedly paid Levante €25 million ($28 million) for the 21-year-old.
Mourinho handed starting debuts to Marc Cucurella, Denzel Dumfries, and Bernardo Silva, the first time Madrid have started three debutantes in their opening LaLiga game since 2009. Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, and Karim Benzema made their bows for Madrid in 2009. The trio, along with the debutantes, will look to build on the momentum gained from the win.
Yan Diomande, who joined Madrid from RB Leipzig for an initial €125 million ($146m) fee, made his debut as a second-half replacement for Arda Güler in the 64th minute.