I came back after the Christmas break to the first Real Madrid game of 2026. It was great to be back at the Bernabeu after a couple of weeks.
Real Betis came to Madrid to hopefully start their year off with a win. Mbappé missed this game due to injury and was replaced by Gonzalo Garcia (which was not a bad decision). As I have mentioned before the attitude towards referees was really hostile. Nothing changed, as even when the officials’ name were called out the fans already started booing.
The first half was nothing remarkable apart from Vinicius who looked dangerous in spells. The only goal of the half was Gonzalo’s goal which was scored from a cross from an indirect free kick. It was nice to see him score his first La Liga goal for his team.
The second half is where everything opened up. Real Madrid came out at half time on fire. Gonzalo scored the second with an incredible volley from the edge of the box. If I had to describe it, it was a similar goal to James Rodriguez in the World Cup in 2014, but a lesser version of course. The third goal was scored by Raul Ascencio from a corner. Another player who got off the mark in their La Liga career. Betis scored soon after through a counter-attack from an incredible through ball from Rubial to Hernandez who rounded the keeper and defence to score. Not soon after Gonzalo secured his hat trick with a cheeky back heel goal from close range. Then in stoppage time Fran García scored the last goal which was another from close range.
Overall, I would think it to be a nice day for Real Madrid fans as all the goal scorers were Castilla graduates. Especially, Gonzalo who had to fill in the boots of arguably the most inform player in the world Mbappe. Gonzalo is my Player Of The Match for his hat trick.
