On Monday night, live in front of the cameras, two former Real Madrid player and managers locked horns in the Premier League's big West London derby.
On Monday night, two former Real Madrid coaches and players, Alvaro Arbeloa and Xabi Alonso, locked horns in the Premier League as Fulham hosted Chelsea live on Sky Sports in a West London derby.
There were plenty of Real Madrid supporters invested in the game as a result, but also because La Fabrica graduates Cesar Palacios and Gonzalo Garcia both made their debuts for Arbeloa’s side, after reuniting with their former boss earlier on in the summer.
A very mixed day for them. Fulham would ultimately lose the game, but it was a very entertaining affair, and Garcia scored Fulham’s second goal on the night, showing great strikers instincts to convert a rebound nine minutes into the second half.
Aside from the goal, the 22-year old also registered 40 touches of the ball, and won 4/5 aerial duels, giving the Chelsea defence lots to think about throughout the game. All in all, a very positive debut for the striker.
There is a hope within the fanbase that he will return to the Bernabeu one day, and it was reported in the media when the transfer was going through that his dream would be to come back at some point in his career, with Fulham the best place for him to develop in the meantime.
As for Palacios, a less eventful debut for him. He was taken off by Arbeloa after 73 minutes of the game. Truth be told, he looked to struggle physically, which is understandable in the first senior start of his career. It will have done him good all in all.
So a winning start for Alonso, though Los Blancos supporters will remember only too well that he won his first five La Liga games last season, and we know what happened after that. Hopefully there is no player that throws a fit and disturbs the dressing room for him this time round.
Whilst for Arbeloa, there was a lot of promise shown despite the narrow defeat. Fulham played some good football at times, they just need to improve defensively. Hopefully he can be backed in the transfer market in that regard. You can very clearly already see how he wants the team to play, both in and out of possession.
No doubt Real Madrid fans will be keeping a close eye on his progress this season, and wish him all the very best of luck in doing so.
