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2025-26 Spanish La Liga
Matchday 5
Real Madrid v Espanyol
Estadio Santiago Bernabeu
Madrid, Spain
Saturday, 20 September 2025
Kick-off is at 16h15
Real Madrid will be aiming to make it five wins from five in the new
La Liga season when they welcome fellow high flyers Espanyol to the Bernabeu on Saturday, September 20 in the early kick-off.
Los Blancos are the only team remaining in the Spanish top flight with a perfect record after winning their opening four matches under new head coach Xabi Alonso to go two points clear at the summit.
The record 36-time league champions returned from the international break with a 2-1 victory over Real Sociedad on September 13, which was the second game in succession they had conceded after also beating Real Mallorca by the same scoreline on August 30.
Alonso's side had kept back-to-back clean sheets at the start of the 2025-26 campaign following consecutive wins against Osasuna (1-0) and Real Oviedo (3-0).
The Parakeets are amongst the early frontrunners after making an unbeaten start to the season alongside Real and neighbours Barcelona.
Manolo Gonzalez's side have only kept one clean, but they're the second-highest top scorers behind Barca after defeating Atletico Madrid (2-1), Osasuna (1-0), Mallorca (3-2) and drawing 2-2 with Sociedad.
The Catalans are behind the Blaugrana on goal difference in third place and find themselves one point clear of Athletic Bilbao (4th) and Getafe (5th).
Alonso still sees room for improvement, but he was pleased with the effort his players put in against La Real after losing Dean Huijsen to a red card on 32 minutes.
"It's four, but we're moving forward. There's still a long way to go and we can't take anything for granted, but we're pleased," the Spaniard said.
"There's room for improvement, to keep building things that give us consistent performance throughout the season. The results speak for themselves.
"The assessment, after playing for so long with one less player, is that we had some good phases, phases in which we knew how to dig deep and that we managed to correct things. The players made a huge effort and dug deep for the benefit of the team."
Head-to-Head (Last Five La Liga Meetings)
Matches - 5
Real Madrid wins - 4
Espanyol wins - 1
Draws - 0
La Liga Matchday 5 fixtures:
Friday, September 19
21h00: Real Betis v Real Sociedad
Saturday, September 20
14h00: Girona v Levante
16h15: Real Madrid v Espanyol
18h30: Alaves v Sevilla
18h30: Villarreal v Osasuna
21h00: Valencia v Athletic Bilbao
Sunday, September 21
14h00: Rayo Vallecano v Celta Vigo
16h15: Real Mallorca v Atletico Madrid
18h30: Elche v Real Oviedo
21h00: Barcelona v Getafe
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