Real Madrid round-up: Ramos, Courtois debut, Vinicius
Lopetegui's team kept up their flawless record in LaLiga with a 4-1 home win over Leganés yesterday. There was also good news for Vinicius who was in action with Castilla today.
Courtois finally makes his debut
Keylor Navas may have kept him out for the UEFA Super Cup as well as the first two league games against Getafe and Girona but Thibaut Courtois finally made his long-awaited debut for Real Madrid on Saturday as Leganés were visitors to the Bernabéu. It was a relatively quiet evening for the Belgian keeper who only had three shots on target to deal with - one of which, Guido Carrillo's 25th minute penalty, sent him the wrong way and denied him from marking his first appearance with a clean sheet.
In spite of that, Courtois was clearly thrilled to have finally got a game but said afterwards that he has no idea whether he will keep his place for the next game, against Athletic Club in Bilbao after the international break.
Words from the captain
Sergio Ramos, who scored Madrid's fourth goal of the night (his second in a week), also had a few words to say about Courtois and Keylor when he chatted to reporters in the Mixed Zone after the match. "The doors are always open at Real Madrid for great players and Thibaut is a brilliant goalkeeper. But let's not forget the great seasons which Keylor has had with us. It's a good sign when the coach has the difficult decision as to which of them should play. Competition for places can only be a good thing".
Luis Enrique at the Bernabéu
New Spain coach Luis Enrique included six Madrid players in his first squad list for this month's UEFA Nations League games against England and Croatia and made his first visit to the Bernabéu in his new job, joining the other guests in the VIP lounge. He would be more familiar with the pitchside technical area where, during his coaching days at Barça, he was relentlessly jeered by the home supporters - and where the man who preceded him in the Spain job, Julen Lopetegui, was handing out instructions to the home side. The Bernabéu was always an hostile place for Luis Enrique during the latter part of his playing days with Barcelona but during the five years he spent as a madridista, he was always well received. That was the case last night, as he told Movistar+ at half-time: "The welcome I have been given was fantastic. The VIP lounge is well located and you get a good view of the game, everything's perfect. I'll be visiting VIP areas more now because of my job but for me, that's no problem".
Vinicius opens account
What better way to get off the mark for your new club than in the derby? Vinicius was on target twice at the Cerro del Espino as Real Madrid Castilla held Atlético B to a 2-2 draw. The teenager, who played the full 90 minutes cancelled out Samu's opener on 6 minutes then put Castilla ahead on the half hour with a tremendous finish into the top corner. Darío scored a contentious equaliser on 59 minutes which earned coach Santiago Solari a red card for protesting. But despite dropping their first points of the season, his team remain just behind leaders Navalcarnero in Group I of the Second Division B table, ahead of this evening's fixtures.