Real Madrid recovered from conceding an early goal to beat promoted Almeria 2-1 to get the defence of their La Liga title up and running on Sunday.
Carlo Ancelotti made five changes to the team that beat Eintracht Frankfurt in Wednesday's Uefa Super Cup final, with debuts for new signings Antonio Rudiger and Aurelien Tchouameni.
Almeria were in no mood to bow down to the Spanish and European champions though and took a sixth-minute lead through striker Largie Ramazani.
Vinicius Jr was involved in his own personal fuel with Fernando Martinez with the Almeria goalkeeper making three crucial stops from close range to deny Real's Brazilian forward.
Last season's La Liga top goalscorer Karim Benzema had a disappointing showing as Almeria's five-man defence did a superb job in shackling him, showing real grit as they tried to defend their lead.
Real piled on the pressure after the break when Ancelotti summoned veteran midfielder Luka Modric and winger Eden Hazard from the bench in place of young French midfielders Eduardo Camavinga and Tchouameni, who struggled to make an impact.
Lucas Vazquez scored the equaliser from a rebound after another individual effort from Vinicius in the 61st minute and substitute David Alaba scored the winner from a free kick into the upper left corner in the 75th minute.
"It was a complicated match, they explored very well the spaces that we left on the back of the defence," Ancelotti told Movistar Plus.
"Tchouameni and Camavinga didn’t show their true quality and potential but sometimes the Real Madrid shirt is a heavy burden for the young players.
"I have full confidence that they will progress because they are high level players."