Racing de Santander
Real MadridSantander has waited 14 years for this. Racing Santander vs Real Madrid is back on the LaLiga fixture list on Sunday 1 November, at El Sardinero, and the people of Cantabria get to see whether a promoted side that has not lost at home all season can do something about José Mourinho's Madrid.
The game kicks off at 16:15 in Spain, 15:15 in the UK and 10:15 Eastern in the US.
Fourteen years away
Racing went down in 2012 and spent the following seasons in the lower divisions before finally getting back. Last spring they were the first side in the Segunda to make promotion mathematically certain, on 16 May, with José Alberto López as coach. Íñigo Vicente set up 18 goals in that campaign, and he is still the player the attack runs through.
The summer brought in some Basque reinforcements. Goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala arrived from Athletic Club and striker Asier Villalibre from Alavés, while Peio Canales went the other way to Bilbao.
The best signing, though, has been a loan. Yassir Zabiri, borrowed from Rennes, scored a hat-trick against Elche in his first LaLiga start, then twice against Alavés, and he had seven league goals by mid-October. He was named LaLiga's under-23 player of the month for September, and reports have Leeds and Ipswich watching him. Racing will enjoy him while they can.
Racing Santander vs Real Madrid: the case for an upset
Racing's season splits neatly in two. At El Sardinero they are unbeaten in four league games:
- Racing 2-2 Villarreal
- Racing 3-2 Elche
- Racing 2-1 Alavés
- Racing 2-2 Valencia
That is eight points from a possible 12, nine goals scored and seven conceded. Away from home they have zero points from five games, including a 7-2 hiding at Barcelona, 5-0 at Celta and 2-0 at Osasuna on 18 October. Their last away win in the top flight came at El Sadar in January 2012, which local reporters were quick to point out before that Osasuna trip.
So the trick for Racing is simple enough: keep it at home. Every one of those home games has had goals at both ends, and José Alberto's side go forward even against teams with better players. After the Osasuna defeat he said they "have to be more ruthless", which is the right complaint for a side that keeps creating chances and then giving goals away.
Campos de Sport de El Sardinero, Santander. Photo: Emilio Gómez Fernández, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
What Madrid bring to Cantabria
Madrid have not played a league game in Santander since the 2011-12 season, and the club arriving now looks very different. Mourinho is back for a second spell, and the summer added Ibrahima Konaté, Bernardo Silva, Marc Cucurella, Denzel Dumfries and Yan Diomande. There is also Carlos Espí, signed from Levante, who already has two league goals, both scored in the 90th minute or later.
Kylian Mbappé has nine league goals, including a hat-trick against Real Sociedad and two more in the 4-1 win over Sevilla on 18 October. Madrid were third on 21 points after nine games, with their two defeats both coming away from home, at Real Betis and at Atlético Madrid.
| # | Team | P | GD | Pts | Form |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 |  Real Madrid | 9 | 14 | 21 | WWLWW |
| 16 |  Racing de Santander | 9 | -12 | 8 | LDLLW |
The awkward bit for Racing is the schedule. Madrid go to Barcelona for the Clásico on 25 October, and Racing play Espanyol the day before. Depending on how the Clásico goes, Mourinho's team will arrive either relieved or angry, and I'm not sure which is worse for the hosts.
Prediction and how to watch
Racing will score. They have scored in every home game, and Madrid have conceded at Elche, Betis and Atlético. Whether they can stop Mbappé is another matter. I'll say Real Madrid win 3-1, with El Sardinero enjoying the afternoon anyway.
In the US the match is on ESPN's LaLiga coverage, and the card at the top of this page shows the kick-off in your own time zone. To watch Racing Santander vs Real Madrid free in HD, with no account needed, use DAMITV's LaLiga streams or the Real Madrid live stream page. Barcelona's visit from Alavés the night before is on our Barcelona stream, and the evening ends with the Basque derby, previewed in Athletic Bilbao vs Real Sociedad. Real Madrid's own match announcement confirms the date and time.
