Once pre-season is done and dusted, players eagerly turn their attention to domestic action. A new season, a fresh chance to impress. The start of what could be a campaign of ultimate glory.So, with that said, the worst start that a player can make to a season is receiving a red card on the opening night. Unfortunately for Barcelona and Raphina, that's exactly what happened against Getafe.The Brazilian wasn't the only one guilty of letting tensions reach boiling point, before they spilt over, though, with manager Xavi also seeing red, as well as Getafe striker Jaime Mata.In a fiery affair to get the season underway, it was Getafe who will be the happier of the two sides, holding out for a point in a frustrating stalemate for Barcelona.Without any goals to watch, it's Raphinha who stole the headlines, with his UFC-style elbow rightfully resulting in his dismissal.

It's almost as if managers have forgotten to give their defenders the pre-season talk about avoiding reckless challenges, because, after all, it is only a friendly game.We've seen Lisandro Martinez go flying into poor challenges twice now. The first time was at Bukayo Saka's expense, who was lucky to avoid injury as Arsenal were defeated 2-0 by Manchester United. The second time then came against Real Madrid, as Jude Bellingham was recklessly taken out, sparking the midfielder's fume.Now, it seems as though Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo has caught the recklessness bug, leaving no prisoners against Arsenal, as he wiped out Gabriel Jesus in a needless challenge.The forward fortunately managed to avoid injury, but there's no doubt that he was left unpleased, with nothing really riding on the game to warrant such aggression from the Barca man.

Pre-season is a time in which most managers likely want nothing more than to just get the bubble wrap out for their players, forever hoping that it will do the trick if they dare square off against Lisandro Martinez in a not-so-friendly friendly game.The so-called 'butcher' has so far spent most of pre-season slicing up the calves of some of Europe's best attackers. First, came his horror challenge on Bukayo Saka, as Manchester United defeated Arsenal 2-0. And, if that wasn't controversial enough, Martinez then turned his attention to Jude Bellingham, wiping the Real Madrid midfielder out entirely.Taking the attention away from United's 2-0 defeat, Martinez sparked a reaction from Bellingham, who was rightly left displeased.The commentators were quick to jump the gun with the incident, however, getting slightly mixed up on what actually happened.

It's not often we see British players make the move to Real Madrid, but when they do, the La Liga giants are rarely left disappointed.Whether it be Laurie Cunningham - the first Englishman to play for Los Blancos - or Gareth Bale, the Welshman who won it all at the Santiago Bernabeu, several British exports have written their names into the legendary Madrid history books.Now, it is Jude Bellingham who is hopefully destined to replicate Cunningham and Bale, rather than Michael Owen and Jonathan Woodgate at one of Spain's greatest-ever clubs.Joining for a reported £88.5m, the midfielder arrives with plenty of pressure to perform, but, as proved during his Borussia Dortmund days, Bellingham isn't one to capitulate.This was the case during his Madrid debut, too. As Carlo Ancelotti's side squared off against AC Milan in a pre-season friendly, Bellingham left many impressed with his debut display - as seen in the footage below.

When a player moves to a new club, it's like being the new kid at school. But when that school is in another country entirely, and speaks a language you are yet to learn, it can be all the more daunting.Luckily for Jude Bellingham, however, he seems to be getting on just fine with his Real Madrid teammates, perhaps helped by his Spanish lessons. It has given certain teammates of his the opportunity to teach him a few things, too, but not things we're likely to hear in a press conference any time soon.The former Borussia Dortmund midfielder has dropped some of the Madrid players in it by revealing the names of those who have taught him bad words in Spanish.

Fines and stadium closures may not solve the root causes behind racism directed at Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior, The Football Terrace presenter JJ has claimed.

Fans could not contain their laughter as France thrashed the Netherlands in their European Championships qualifier, with Memphis Depay summing up his side's performance with an astonishingly bad penalty miss.The forward joined Atletico Madrid from Barcelona in the January transfer window, and has caused anger amongst Blaugrana fans for comments made about the club and former coach Ronald Koeman since departing.

The topsy-turvy nature of Real Madrid's season continued on Thursday evening.Only a week on from a demolition job at Anfield, defeating Liverpool 5-2, they were humbled in the first leg of their Copa del Rey El Clasico with Barcelona.The final scoreline of 1-0 may not suggest they were too out of the game but the fact of the matter is that Barca were far the better team.Leading LaLiga by six points and now ahead in the tie, it is Xavi's men who are undoubtedly having the better season.Even if they are out of the Champions League and indeed the Europa League, few would have bet they'd be ahead of their famous rivals at any stage of the campaign last summer.Embroiled in financial trouble and a mess behind the scenes, few gave the Catalan giants any hope of achieving success this term. Yet, they have defied the doubters and made another statement on Thursday.