Watch Spanish La Liga football action as perennial powerhouse Real Madrid open their 2015-2016 campaign to regain the championship of Spain’s Primera Division, traveling to face Sporting Gijon at the 107-year-old Estadio El Molinón in the beach town of Gijon.
Real Madrid have not won the La Liga trophy since the 2011-2012 season, and in June brought in former Napoli, Inter Milan, and Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez to take over the club from Carlo Ancelotti, who, in 2014, took Los Blancos to their first European championship since 2002, but could not take the team to the top of the domestic table.
As for Sporting Gijon, the newly promoted club is determined to put on a respectable performance and hoping to defy the overwhelming odds against them, facing one of the top sides in the world.
“We know the task that awaits us and the difference in quality between the two sides,” said Sporting boss Abelardo Fernandez on Saturday. “If we were to face Real 100 times, we would probably only win one game and I hope that game is Sunday’s match.”
To find out how to watch the Real Madrid vs. Sporting Gijon Spanish La Liga Primera Division opener, see the streaming info in the final paragraph of this article. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. local time Sunday, August 23, in Gijon, Spain. That’s 2:30 p.m. United States Eastern Time, 11:30 a.m. Pacific.
Real Madrid will be missing injured French international Karim Benzema, one of the mainstays of the Los Blancos side for the past six seasons. But otherwise, the usual array of stars will be on display for Real Madrid, including, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Sergio Ramos, Luka Modric, and more.
But the club faces a few questions in their quest to overcome arch-rival Barcelona and claim another La Liga title. A preseason goal scoring drought in which they were blanked in four of eight friendly matches has worried the club’s fans — after Los Blancos blasted home 118 in 35 Primera Division games in 2014-2015.
The side also faces questions about the identity of their goalkeeper. A summer-long quest to extract rising Spanish star David De Gea from Manchester United has so far proven fruitless. Veteran Keylor Navas is expected to mind the net in Sunday’s match.
Sunday’s Real Madrid vs. Sporting Gijon La Liga opener will be carried by the Qatar-based international sports network beIn Sports. Subscribers can watch live online using beIn Connect at this link . The network is also part of the Sling TV International Sports package, which costs $10 per month. But the first month is free, and the subscription can be cancelled at any time. To access the Sling TV free live sports offer, visit this link. Another link to watch live online can be found here .
[Image: Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno / Getty Images]