VITORIA-GASTEIZ, SPAIN - AUGUST 15: Mariano Diaz of Deportivo Alaves celebrates scoring his team’s second goal with teammate Nahuel Tenaglia during the LaLiga EA Sports 2026/27 match between Deportivo Alaves and Getafe CF at Estadio de Mendizorroza on August 15, 2026 in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)
A former member of the attacking ranks at Real Madrid proved himself the star of the show, as the new La Liga campaign was kicked into gear on Saturday night.
Deportivo Alavés played host to Getafe a short time ago, in the process kickstarting the 2026/27 season in Spanish football’s top flight.
When all was said and done, the hosts romped to an eventual 3-0 triumph, taking full advantage of Kiko Femenía’s dismissal late in the first-half.
And playing a direct hand in all three goals was the aforementioned Mariano Díaz.
Introduced off the bench early in the 2nd-half, Mariano wasted little time in making his presence felt. After first laying on the assist for Alavés’ opener, the 33-year-old turned goalscorer late on, before notching another assist deep into injury time.
And as since revealed by statisticians Opta, in the process, Mariano secured for himself a noteworthy piece of individual history:
‘Mariano Díaz has been involved in three goals in a single La Liga match (one goal, two assists) for the first time in his career (80 matches).’
3 – Mariano Díaz 🇩🇴 ha participado en tres goles en un mismo partido de @LaLiga (un gol, dos asistencias) por primera vez en su carrera (80 partidos).
Es el segundo jugador del @Alaves en lograr dos asistencias como suplente en un partido de la competición en el siglo XXI tras… pic.twitter.com/jM1eXFtcpn
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) August 15, 2026
Conor Laird – GSFN