REAL MADRID
Real Madrid round-up: Vinícius, Courtois, UCL, Castilla
In today's bite size round-up: Courtois starts game against Girona on Instagram and a key week ahead as we learn the composition of the 2018/19 UCL group stage.
Courtois starts on Insta stories
A slight lapse in concentration from the Real Madrid social media department saw new Belgian goalkeeper set to start on the Instagram stories post that the club issued ahead of the league clash in Montilivi. Whether this reflects a change of heart from the Real Madrid coach or simple admin. error we'll never know, but once again it was Keylor Navas who was between the sticks as Madrid secured a 1-4 away win.
Benzema's positive start
The French striker had a particularly fallow season in front of goal during the LaLiga 2017/18 campaign just managing to net on five occasions all season with a total of 12 goals in all competition. His brace in Griona last night has already seen him register more than 35% of last seasons total league output with the French man linking well with Gareth Bale in the absence of the now departed Cristiano.
Maximum points for Solari
Two first half goals at home to Las Palmas Atletico were enough to secure a winning start for Santiago Solari's Real Madrid Castilla side as they begin another campaign in Spain's Segunda B (third tier of Spanish football). It also saw Vinicius Jr make his Real Madrid competitive debut with the Brazilian becoming the most expensive player to feature in 2B. Madrid next face city rivals Atletico in an early season "filial" derby.
Champions League draw
Monaco is the setting for the group stage draw for the 2018/19 Champions League as Lopetegui's side will learn their three rivals for the first stage of the competition as Madrid defend their title. 'Los Blancos' are one of the top seeded sides and are joined at the top table (Pot 1) by the likes of
Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, Manchester City, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and
Lokomotive Moscow. The action gets underway mod September and runs through to match-day 6 which will be held on December 11th and 12th.
