This season, Kepa Arrizabalaga was signed on loan to fill in for the injured Thibaut Courtois. After starting last week, Carlo Ancelotti selected him as the starter this week.

Even if he had a clean sheet and three points at the conclusion of the game, it wasn’t a night that gave Madrid supporters reason to feel secure. Kepa made a mistake that supporters who had seen him play for Chelsea in recent years would be all too familiar with after just two minutes when he let a long-range attempt go through at the near post.

The referee’s call of a mysterious foul on the Basque, one of the softest you’ll ever see and the kind that makes every other fan in Spain complain about unfair refereeing, saved him.He won’t always be that fortunate, and Real will need him to perform at a far higher level if they hope to do anything significant this year.