The early days of the Rafa Benitez era at Real Madrid haven’t been all sunshine and lollipops, sitting in fifth place with four points after two matches. That start is thanks to a flat performance in a 0-0 draw against Gijon in the season opener before working out some frustration with a five-goal win over lowly Real Betis -- two of the three newly-promoted teams in La Liga. Los Merengues will be looking to get things moving in the right direction once more against Espanyol, a match that they should win. Of course, in football "should win" often turns into "whoops we lost," so they can’t afford
Real Madrid vs. Espanyol 2015 live stream: Time, TV schedule and how to watch online
Los Merengues look for a second straight win, but Espanyol will be spoiling for an upset.
Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images
Espanyol, of course, are no pushovers. While they’re overshadowed in their own city by Barcelona, they’re a pretty decent team in their own right, finishing 10th in La Liga last season. They lost heavily to Villarreal before the break, but looked good in a season-opening win against Getafe. While they’re only a mid-table side in La Liga, they’re also the best team Madrid have faced so far in this young season -- and frankly, they’re good enough that if things break right, they could give Benitez another early-season surprise.
Key player -- Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Despite being one of the two best players on the planet, Ronaldo has seemed curiously off-kilter early in the season. Maybe he’s not adapting to the new system employed by Rafa Benitez very well yet, maybe he’s feeling the fatigue of so many games played over his career, maybe it’s something else entirely, but Ronaldo hasn’t really looked like himself so far. While Madrid can probably survive without him at his best against a mid-table side, their fans would certainly like to start seeing signs of the Cristiano Ronaldo of old sooner rather than later.
Key Matchup -- Gerard Moreno (Espanyol) vs. Raphael Varane (Real Madrid)
If Espanyol are going to stand a chance of getting something out of this match, they need strong performances up top. Lucky for them Moreno is familiar with Madrid and helping to upset them -- he was the goalscorer and top performer for Villarreal in a surprise 1-1 draw against Real back in March, after all. He’ll be looking for a chink in Madrid’s armor again in this match, and maybe score his first Espanyol goal in the process. With Varane looking a little shaky at times early in the season for Madrid, we know who Moreno and Espanyol will be targeting -- it’s up to the young Frenchman to raise his performance level and keep them at bay.
Espanyol injuries and suspensions
Out: Hernan Perez (flu), Papakouli Diop (ankle) In doubt: none
Real Madrid injuries and suspensions
Out: James Rodriguez (thigh), Danilo (foot) In doubt: none
Madrid were given a huge blow during the international break when James was felled by injury, with an examination done by team doctors finding a tear in his left thigh that will likely take a few weeks to properly heal. Fortunately, Madrid have plenty of attacking talent to help replace him, but no one is quite like the talented little Colombian.
Match Date/Time: Saturday, 10 a.m. ET, 4 p.m. local
Venue: Power8 Stadium, Barcelona, Spain
TV: beIN Sports (U.S.), Canal+ Liga (Spain), Sky Sports 3/HD (U.K.)
Online: fuboTV, beIN Sports Connect (U.S.), Sky Go Extra (U.K.)
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