Mourinho begins Real Madrid reign with last-minute win

Real Madrid kicked off the La Liga season with a last-minute 2-1 victory over Espanyol at the RCDE stadium on Saturday. Young striker Carlos Espi secured the win in the 90th minute, ending the match with a 13th La Liga goal since January. Both teams traded goals in the first half, with Jude Bellingham scoring for Real Madrid and Alex Calatrava equalizing for Espanyol.

Bellingham gave Madrid the lead just nine minutes into the match with a header from Arda Guler’s set-piece. Despite having the advantage, Real Madrid failed to capitalize, allowing Espanyol to regain the lead through Calatrava on 30 minutes, who scored after finding the center of the penalty area to slot in Javi Hernandez’s cross.

In the second half, Real Madrid made several substitutions, including new record signing Yan DIomande and Espi, who played a crucial role in the winning goal. The young player made a crucial defensive intercept and then deftly nudged the ball into an empty net, assisted by Kylian Mbappe’s work. This marked the second time in Real Madrid's history that they have won on their opening day, continuing their streak of not losing on the opening day for the 18th consecutive season.