Socceroos captain Mat Ryan suffers heavy defeat in La Liga season opener

Socceroos captain Mat Ryan has made a losing start to the new Spanish La Liga season.

The veteran goalkeeper, who lost his spot in Australia’s starting team to Patrick Beach at the recent FIFA World Cup, was between the posts for a Levante side beaten 3-0 by Espanyol on Monday morning (AEST) at RCDE Stadium.

Ryan re-signed with Levante last month after last season helping them avoid relegation to the Spanish second division.

Meanwhile, Ryan’s Socceroos teammate Cameron Devlin was an unused substitute in his club Rangers’ 5-1 win over St Mirren in a Scottish League Cup second-round clash at Ibrox Stadium.

Rangers will now host Celtic in the quarter-finals, with the Hoops having won 4-0 against a Dundee United team containing Australians Zac Sapsford, Lachlan Rose, Joshua Rawlins and substitute Daniel Bennie on Sunday morning (AEST).

Elsewhere, Socceroo winger Martin Boyle, came off the bench for Hibernian in its 1-0 Scottish League Cup win over Partick Thistle at Easter Road.

Boyle missed selection in Australia’s World Cup squad, as did his Hibs teammates Ante Suto and Jack Iredale.

In a Cup upset, a Motherwell side that included former Sydney FC and Auckland FC defender Jake Girdwood-Reich suffered a shock 1-0 loss to Stenhousemuir.

Originally published as Socceroos captain Mat Ryan suffers heavy defeat in La Liga season opener