Real Madrid vs Osasuna
Xabi Alonso takes his Primera Division bow on Tuesday as title hopefuls Real Madrid kick off their season with a testing clash at home to Osasuna.
Villarreal kicked off the new campaign on Friday night, with a home clash against Real Oviedo and the first round of fixtures ends with La Liga: Real Madrid vs Osasuna on Tuesday night; and, after leading Bayer Leverkusen to the 2023/24 Bundesliga title, Alonso is ready to start his career as Los Blancos boss.
His first task is to wrestle the La Liga title back from El Clasico rivals Barcelona and a home game against Osasuna is a good challenge to kick off with. Los Rojilos finished ninth last season and have settled between seventh and 11th since their promotion to the top flight in 2019. The pre-match Real Madrid vs Osasuna 2025 betting odds reckon a home win is on the cards but the visitors have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Talking Points
Mastantuono set for an early Madrid debut
With the first game rapidly approaching, the big Real Madrid vs Osasuna 2025 news spreading out from the Santiago Bernabeu concerns an injury… and an incoming at the club. Alonso will be missing box to box midfielder Jude Bellingham from his line-up on Tuesday as the England man is recovering from a shoulder operation undergone in pre-season, and he will miss the first few weeks of the new campaign. And that means new signing Franco Mastantuono could make his debut against Osasuna on Tuesday.
The Argentine teen sensation completed his move from River Plate at the end of last week and he has joined the first team squad in training without delay. The 18 year old creative midfielder has scored five goals in 45 appearances for River Plate and he has already won a full international cap for the World Champions. Alonso wants to build his squad with a mix of youth and experience and, the former Los Blancos and Liverpool player insists that if a player is good enough he is old enough, as he proved with Florian Wirtz at Leverkusen.
Mastantuono will wear the Number 30 shirt he donned at River Plate and hopes to make a quick impact in the European football world. As well as Bellingham’s absence, another first choice midfielder, Eduardo Camavinga, is doubtful as he is nursing an ankle injury and, if he doesn’t make it then Mastantuono looks even more likely to make an early debut.
The other bit of intrigue is whether Alonso will pick his troublesome star Vinicius Junior, who has been embroiled in a tetchy round of contract negotiations. The Brazil star’s agent has been arguing that he should be paid as a top earner, and with Kylian Mbappe at the club that is some demand. The saga has not yet been resolved and that might affect Alonso’s thinking. Meanwhile centre back Anton Rudiger has a suspension carried over from last season, and that means summer signing Dean Huijsen is set to make his league debut.
Lisci relishes the challenge
Osasuna manager Alessio Lisci joined the Navarra club in June having left second tier club Mirandes. He cut his teeth as a coach at Levante and then moved to Mirandes, where Lisci led the club to the Segunda Division play-offs last season. He spoke last week of his opening test, against Alonso’s team, saying: “The game against Real Madrid…it’s undoubtedly one of the toughest matches in La Liga because Real Madrid was one of the best teams last season.
“We like to play against the big teams; we even wish we could face them every week so we are happy to face them.”
Lisci knows his team will face multiple threats but has singled out Mbappe for particular attention, saying the Frenchman demands 100 per cent attention from his players. “We’ve studied him a lot and designed specific defensive plans against him,” says Lisci. “Yes, it will be difficult but we’ll try to stop him.”
Osasuna’s biggest attacking threat will come from Croatian striker Ante Budimir, who has 54 goals in 130 games for Los Rojilos, while 32 year old winger Ruben Garcia is another influential player, with 29 goals in 236 matches.
History
These two teams are in the same division but they come from different worlds. Los Blancos have won 36 La Liga titles, the last three in 2020, 2022 and 2024. So they will be hoping that pattern continues this season.
Meanwhile, Osasuna are four times Segunda Division champions and twice Copa del Rey runners up, the last time in 2023.
Madrid have won six of their last eight meetings with Osasuna, and there have been two 1-1 draws, including one in Pamplona last season. But this meeting at the Santiago Bernabeu last term ended in a 4-0 win for Los Blancos who have scored 21 goals and conceded six over these eight games.
Betting Tip
Los Blancos are the hot SBOTOP favourites, at odds of 1.25 to win, with the Draw at 5.64 and an Osasuna win at 11.90. Another 4-0 home win is priced at 11.00 and that would be some start for Alonso!
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR (⭐) BETS ARE WORTH:
⭐⭐⭐= €20 (HIGHLY CONFIDENT)
⭐⭐= €10 (CONFIDENT)
⭐= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT)
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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