Twenty-four sensational minutes were all it took Real's new Brazilian wunderkid Robinho to leave most of the Spanish press salivating, writes Sid Lowe

Well, that didn't take long. Not a phrase this column hears often (obviously), but nonetheless one that pretty much sums it up. It may have been the first weekend of the new season in Spain, and only 24 minutes of the first weekend at that, but everyone's gone completely and utterly bonkers. Spain has a new superstar and - like a buxom maiden with a wooden stool, tin bucket and a swollen-uddered cow - boy are they milking it in Madrid.

Just after 10.20pm on Sunday night, a spindly little kid made of rubber bounced into the spotlight wearing a football kit five sizes too big and proceeded to take the Mickey. A dummy here, a sombrero [flick over his marker's head] there, and lollipop after lollipop after ludicrous lollipop, it was a wonder he didn't end up with his legs twisted in a knot.

The kid's name of course is Robinho, he is 21 years old, he comes from Brazil, he is Real Madrid's latest galáctico, and last night he almost single-handedly undid Cádiz. He's only been in Spain for three days, has only trained with his team-mates once and, for 24 minutes on the opening day, he was simply sensational. Especially when it came to what the Spanish call the bicicleta - that's the step-over, to you and me - one after another after another.

So maddeningly multiple was the move that Real Betis winger Joaquín - the cheeky scamp who performs more step-overs than a teenager in groove-soled trainers negotiating his way down an ally of dog-droppings - is going to have to relinquish his crown. Joaquín's Spitting Image puppet carries a bicycle wheel with him; Robinho's will have to lug about an entire peloton, complete with yellow jersey and puncture repair kits. Even Cristiano Ronaldo looks boring in comparison.

It was plain silly, which shouldn't really come as much of a surprise. Robinho, after all, once got booked for performing too many step-overs because the referee considered it a lack of respect to his opponents. And because, he recently explained, he feared some lumbering oaf of a defender dispatching him into the crowd - a fate, much as Cádiz couldn't get near him last night, that surely still awaits him in Spain. And one that could yet make last night as much of a flash in the pan as a ropy curry.

Except that yesterday Robinho really did look like the real thing and it wasn't all showboating. Of course it's too early to tell, but when Robinho came on, newly-promoted Cádiz, last year's second division champions, had just equalised and Madrid were on the ropes. He changed the game, gave Madrid impetus at last, set up a chance for Roberto Carlos, giggled his way past a couple of players to find Iván Helguera, who battered a great shot off the bar, and created the winner for Madrid.

Taking a long David Beckham pass on his chest, Robinho escaped his defender and craftily slipped the ball to Ronaldo, who handed Raúl a goal on a plate (which, the way Raúl's been playing, is lucky). "Buenísimo!" screamed Marca's front cover, "Robinho left everyone open-mouthed in 24 minutes. A genius has just touched down in our league."

Even more sober judges were impressed. "He took no more than a second to sow panic," wrote El País's Santiago Segurola. "Step-overs to the right, step-overs to the left, a never-ending exhibition of skill and movement." El Mundo declared: "A star is born; Robinho came down from the heavens." And Canal Plus commentator and Cádiz director Michael Robinson - caught on camera punching the air when Cádiz scored - described Robinho as "pure poetry", insisting with a wince: "I've enjoyed watching one man unstitch our whole team in just 20 minutes."

The homepage of pro-Barça daily El Mundo Deportivo decided not to even mention it, shutting its eyes, sticking its fingers in its ears, singing loudly and hoping it would all just go away; but it wouldn't. And nor would the gloating, former Argentina goalkeeper Hugo Gatti demonstrating the same sound judgment and grasp on reality that led him to promise to shoot himself in the head at the Bernabéu if Barcelona won the league (we're still waiting, Hugo). Robinho, Gatti said, "did more in 20 minutes than Ronaldinho has done in two seasons."

As for AS, it was having a religious experience, its headline preaching: "And God created Robinho!"

Catalan basher Tomás Guash couldn't resist a sarcastic dig, shrugging: "He's not Van Bommel or Ezquerro [Barcelona's low-key summer signings] but there's promise there." Mad Madridista columnist Tomás Roncero, shouting everybody down on the new, discussion-show version of Sunday night round-up Estudio Estadio, proclaimed it the start of a glorious new era. And the paper's match report added: "Robinho is the saviour. In 24 minutes, he produced a hat, a slalom that left three men in his wake, and two bicycles. He is La Liga's new angel ... or devil, if you're an opponent."

Realmadrid.com, handily agreed: "His look, his change of rhythm, and his nerve left the Carranza mute, captivated by his diabolical apparitions."

But, in truth, far more diabolical was Madrid's performance - truly awful until Robinho appeared, not to mention slow, disorganised and disinterested. "Madrid," wrote Segurola, "never left vulgarity all night."

And yet they won, which is more than can be said for rivals Barcelona - much to the delight of the Madrid press and the barely disguised panic of their Catalan counterparts. Brilliant again, Barça opened their defence of the title with a hugely frustrating 0-0 draw at Alavés, having hit the post twice, the bar once and their former goalkeeper Roberto Bonano time after time.

For Barça fans it was a depressingly familiar scene - one endlessly repeated during the second half of last season, and one that sends out a worrying message this year. Barça played all the football and couldn't score; Madrid played virtually none and could. Some things never change.

Results:

Alavés 0 - 0 Barcelona

Athletic 3 - 0 Real Sociedad

Valencia 1 - 0 Betis

Atlético 0 - 0 Zaragoza (can this column please stop going to the Calderón?)

Mallorca 0 - 1 Deportivo

Espanyol 0 - 2 Getafe

Celta 2 - 0 Málaga

Sevilla 1 - 0 Racing

Osasuna 2 - 1 Villarreal

Cádiz 1 - 2 Madrid



And, predictions are a mug's game, but here goes:

Champions: Real Madrid.

Runners-up: Barcelona.

Champions League: Valencia, Atlético.

Uefa Cup: Betis, Villarreal.

Relegation: Racing, Mallorca, Getafe.

Top scorer: Ronaldo.

First manager sacked: Too late, Alavés have already dumped theirs.