Real Sociedad’s goalkeeper made five saves, and they still opened La Liga with nothing
Alex Remiro was the busier of the two goalkeepers at La Cartuja and still finished on the losing side. One Betis goal decided the opening night of both clubs’ La Liga season.
Aug 22, 2026
Alex Remiro made five saves at the Estadio de La Cartuja on Friday, 21 August, more than the goalkeeper at the other end, and Real Sociedad still lost. Rodrigo Riquelme scored in the 63rd minute, Cucho Hernandez made it for him, and Real Betis opened their La Liga season with a 1-0 win.
One goal, an hour in
It took Betis 63 minutes to find a way past Remiro, and they only found one. Hernandez released Riquelme inside the box and the finish went in off his left foot. Remiro had already turned away enough to suggest the night might end goalless, and he kept the margin at one until the whistle.
Alvaro Valles finished with four saves and a clean sheet in the Betis goal. Sociedad pushed late, won a run of corners in the closing minutes, and never got the ball past him. Two goalkeepers had good nights. Only one of them is going home with points.
The table this produces is barely a table
Both clubs were playing their first league fixture of the season, so what the standings show after this is close to meaningless. Betis are fifth on three points. Sociedad are 17th on zero, and their goals-for column reads nought.
Deportivo Alaves top it with four points from two matches. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Club, Valencia, Osasuna and Celta have not played a league game yet. Six clubs on nothing at all is the clearest sign of how early this is, and it is worth remembering before anyone reads much into where Sociedad are sitting.
The position will bother them less than those four saves Valles had to make. A side that works an opposing goalkeeper that often and still finishes on nought is a harder thing to diagnose in week one than a side that was simply outplayed.