Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti knew he was taking a big gamble at the Power Horse Stadium in Spain on Sunday night. He knew that their La Liga season opener against the newly promoted hosts could be a potential banana skin although Almeria were football minnows on a shoestring budget. Nevertheless, he made five bold changes to the starting XI from last week's 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the UEFA Super Cup, with Luka Modric and David Alaba among the key players sitting on the bench. 

"The idea is to rotate more than last year and I'll be able to do it more this season because we have a very strong squad, more complete in every level than last year," explained the Italian tactician. "We have to keep everyone motivated and there is a World Cup that means we have to have a fairly big squad and in good condition."

His gamble almost backfired when Almeria took a shock lead early in the first half through Largie Ramazani's brilliant goal. The Belgian winger took advantage of a poor defensive mistake by former Chelsea defender Rudiger and unleashed a fierce shot past Thibaut Courtois to ignite the passion of home crowd. 

As Almeria defended in numbers to protect their slim lead, Real's patience was wearing thin. Rudiger and his fellow new signing Aurelien Tchouameni struggled to suppress Almeria's counter attacks. It looked like Madrid would suffer an opening loss for the first time in 14 years. 

It wasn't until Ancelotti admitted to making an error of judgement and sent on veterans Modric, Alaba and Eden Hazard from the bench that his team managed to shake off their slow start. The indefatigable Vazquez, who had a goal ruled out for offside in the first half, leveled the score for Real after hammering home from close range.

Then Alaba completed the incredible comeback, netting a stunning free-kick with his first touch after coming on as a substitute. The former Bayern Munich star bent the ball into the top corner after Modric was fouled just outside the penalty box. 

"Originally, it should have been Karim [Benzema] or Toni [Kroos] taking the free-kick," beamed Ancelotti after claiming the first three points of the campaign. "But Alaba strikes them really nicely and he told me to have him take it, which he did, and he got it right. It wasn't easy to tell Karim and Toni not to have it but he took it and scored." 

"It was a complicated match, Almeria explored very well the spaces that we left on the back of the defense," he added.

Ancelotti insisted that the young players he chose to start in the hard-fought clash should be given more time to grow.  

"[Aurelien] Tchouameni and [Eduardo] Camavinga didn't show their true quality and potential, but sometimes Real Madrid shirt is a heavy burden for the young players," Ancelotti observed.  

"The younger lads didn't play like they usually do but I'm pleased with them. They struggled on an emotional level in today's game, they didn't do anything wrong but they can do better. I have full confidence that they will progress because they are high level players."

Elsewhere, Harry Kane's last-gasp equalizer earned Tottenham a dramatic draw as a hot-tempered London derby at Stamford Bridge ended in an angry face-off between Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte. 

Nottingham Forest's first home game in the Premier League since 1999 ended in a 1-0 victory as West Ham suffered two defeats in a row. Taiwo Awoniyi's goal proved the difference before Declan Rice missed a penalty. 

German champions Bayern Munich comfortably outclassed Wolfsburg 2-0 with goals from Jamal Musiala and Thomas Müller, while Bryan Cristante's strike helped Roma secured a 1-0 win at Salernitana in their Serie A opener.