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 on Sunday.
Published : 24 Aug 2015, 02:31 AM
Real's expensively assembled squad, including FIFA Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, the world's most expensive player, could not find a way past Gijon's determined defence at the Molinon.
Champions Barca earlier secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Athletic Bilbao in their opening match of the campaign, with the game settled by a fine Luis Suarez volley in the 54th minute after Lionel Messi had a penalty saved in the first half.