Having scored just 11 goals in eight pre-season games, Real fired blanks again and slipped two points behind Barcelona and Atletico Madrid after the first round of matches in La Liga.
It was Benitez' first game back in Spanish football 11 years after he left Valencia for Liverpool. The result means he matches Jose Mourinho’s first game in charge at Madrid – he also opened with a goalless draw away from home in 2010.
Benitez
will point to the absence of the injured Karim Benzema but to have
presided over five matches since the start of the summer in which Madrid
have failed to score will be a concern.
Gareth
Bale was Real’s best player in the opening 45 minutes,shooting into
the side netting after racing away from the Sporting defence on to a
pass from Luka Modric with Real's best early chance. Bale then got away
down the left again and crossed but Jese was unable to finish.
The
Welshman had started the game in the number 10 position but had drifted
out to the left and with space to run into was causing Sporting Gijon
plenty of early problems.
Despite
the threat he carried, the game had little goal-mouth action but game
could easily have had two before half-time with a chance at both ends
within the space of 60 seconds.
First
Paraguayan striker Antonio Sanabria thundered a header against the
crossbar. The ball came down once and bounced out back into play.
Replays from behind the goal appeared to show it had crossed Keylor
Navas' line while others suggested the whole of the ball had not crossed
the line.
With
no technology in place in La Liga to make the referee’s mind up for
him, play continued and Madrid immediately thought they should have been
awarded a penalty when Ronaldo tangled with Sergio Alvarez in the area.
Again the referee decided not to give the attacking team the advantage.
The
second half started at the same pace with Isco shooting on target and
Carlos Carmona heading just wide after a mistake by Rafael Varane had
allowed Sporting to cross from left.
Bale
then won a free-kick on the edge of the area and took it himself but
bent it over the wall and Ivan Cuellar’s bar. Then Varane headed a
corner straight at Sporting’s goalkeeper.
After
James Rodriguez replaced Jese he sent a perfect cross towards the head
of Cristiano Ronaldo but Sporting defender Ivan Hernandez got the
slightest of touches and it was enough to divert the ball beyond Real
Madrid’s number seven.
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