Real Madrid need until the 90th minute to beat ten-day-old resistance in Cornellà

Real Madrid started their league season the easy way: a Jude Bellingham header from the middle of the box, nine minutes in, bottom left corner.

Then they spent 81 minutes finding out that Espanyol — who had opened with a 3-0 win over Levante — were not going to fold. Cala levelled on 30 with a left-footed shot into the top corner, and the game stayed there for an hour.

Twenty-one shots, two off the woodwork, one late finish

Madrid had 63% of the ball, 21 shots to Espanyol's eight, seven corners to none, and 2.92 expected goals against 1.12. They also hit the woodwork twice and had six shots blocked. Espanyol's goalkeeper made six saves.

Carlos Espí ended it on 90 minutes, from very close range. Three points, and rather more work than the numbers above suggest they should have needed.

Match facts

• 9' — Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), header
• 30' — Cala (Espanyol)
• 90' — Carlos Espí (Real Madrid)

What's next

Madrid open with three points from their first match, six behind nobody yet — Sevilla are the only side in Spain with two wins. Espanyol have four points from two, which after a 3-0 and a one-goal defeat to Real Madrid is a decent fortnight's work.

Madrid's next month: three more wins, then a first defeat

The Cornellà scare turned out to be the hard part of an otherwise untroubled month. Four days later, Real Madrid's postponed matchday-1 fixture against Real Sociedad finally went ahead at the Bernabéu, and Kylian Mbappé scored three times in forty minutes — on 40, 60 and 80 — either side of a Vinícius Júnior goal, for a 4-1 win in front of 72,226 people.

Matchday 3 brought newly promoted Málaga to the Bernabéu, and Jude Bellingham opened the scoring after dribbling past three defenders on 19 minutes. Mbappé and Arda Güler added two more either side of an own goal for a comfortable 4-0. That run of three straight wins ended on matchday 4, away at Real Betis: Troy Parrott turned in a rebound from a corner in the 81st minute, and goalkeeper Álvaro Valles saved a Mbappé penalty deep into stoppage time to hand Madrid a 1-0 defeat — their first competitive loss since José Mourinho returned for a second spell in charge.

Espanyol's form went the other way

Espanyol's response to losing to Madrid was a defeat of their own. Ander Barrenetxea scored inside four minutes at Real Sociedad on matchday 3, Roberto Fernández equalised right on half-time, and Orri Óskarsson won it for the home side on 61 — Real Sociedad's first points of the season, at Espanyol's expense, 2-1.

Matchday 4 asked more of them again. Sevilla went down to ten men in the 56th minute when Arouna Sangante was sent off, had an Espanyol goal chalked off by VAR in the 62nd, and still led through Lucas Stassin in the 85th. Espanyol needed a Marcos Fernández header in the eighth minute of stoppage time just to salvage a 1-1 draw at the RCDE Stadium.

Where the table stands after four rounds

Real Madrid sit third on 9 points from four matches (three wins, one defeat), three points behind leaders Barcelona, who have won all four of theirs, and ahead of fourth-placed Real Betis on goal difference (+7 to 0) despite that matchday-4 defeat to them. Espanyol are 11th on 4 points — one win, one draw, two defeats — level on points with Racing Santander and Rayo Vallecano just below them, but ahead of both on goal difference.