Real Madrid

MADRID — Eden Hazard scored his first goal for Real Madrid in over a year and Karim Benzema struck twice as the Spanish champions coasted to a 4-1 win at home to Huesca in La Liga on Saturday.

Making his first start of the campaign after persistent injury problems, Hazard broke the deadlock in the 40th minute with a thunderous strike from outside the area, scoring only his second goal for Madrid since his 2019 move from Chelsea for a joint-club record fee of 100 million euros.

MADRID — Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said on Friday that there is no problem between forwards Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior.

After a week in which Karim Benzema's damning opinion of strike partner Vinícius Júnior was unwittingly revealed, Real Madrid's forwards will be hoping to present a united front when they host Huesca in LaLiga on Saturday.

Champions League Group B was an easy one to predict with LaLiga champion Real Madrid and Serie A runner-up Inter Milan joined by the difficult-to-spell sides of Shakhtar Donetsk and Borussia Mönchengladbach, but we’re two match days in and both Real and Inter have yet to win.

Real Madrid is one step closer to getting its money’s worth for Eden Hazard. The $113 million man is finally back in the squad after last playing on Aug. 7 in a Champions League defeat to Manchester City.

The Belgian’s tenure with Real Madrid has been marred with injuries to put it lightly. A broken fibula that required surgery saw Hazard sidelined for the majority of the 2019-20 campaign. The nightmare of a season for the Belgian saw him score one goal.

BARCELONA — Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos once again proved to be the man for the big occasion as he converted a fiercely debated penalty to help his side to a 3-1 win over rivals Barcelona at an empty Camp Nou in LaLiga on Saturday.

Ramos, making a record 45th appearance in the 'Clasico' fixture, was awarded the spot-kick following a VAR review, after falling in the area when his shirt was tugged by Barca's Clement Lenglet as the pair contested a corner.

There’s no doubt Saturday’s El Clásico was an unusual one. For starters, no fans were allowed in the Camp Nou, as Covid-19 precautions are still keeping stadiums empty. Then there was the fact neither side came into the match among LaLiga’s top two teams in the table, with Barcelona all the way in 10th and Real Madrid coming off two straight defeats. 

And perhaps most notably this side of the pond, for the first time ever, an American was playing in the match.

With a quick tweet of the ref’s whistle and a swift kick from Karim Benzema, 19-year-old Sergiño Dest made history. The fullback became the first American to play in El Clásico on Saturday, starting on the right flank of Barcelona’s defense alongside Gerard Piquè, lining up opposite of Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior.

Kickoff at Camp Nou makes this one .