Liga: Without a great Kylian Mbappé, Real Madrid offers Valladolid

It was the highly anticipated meeting on the Spanish side this weekend. After having experienced his first two matches in the colours of Real Madrid, Kylian Mbappé was going to discover his first in his stadium, at the Santiago Bernabéu. The Spanish press was talking about nothing else while the Frenchman, who had been discreet against Mallorca, had to win over the public. Above all, he had to reassure on the Madrid offensive animation which seemed unbalanced. And for this match, Carlo Ancelotti did not change his attacking trio since Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Mbappé started. Injured, Bellingham left his place to Arda Guler in this role of number 10. Aurélien Tchouameni was still lined up in the heart of the game while Fran Garcia replaced Ferland Mendy, sent off during the first day.

We were therefore expecting an offensive spectacle for this home match, but the least we can say is that the match did not live up to its promises. Despite an XXL squad on paper, Real Madrid did not show much. As on the last day, the offensive animation was clearly a problem. Mbappé touched very few balls and was not reassured by his deflections. He nevertheless had a first opportunity. On a long ball in depth, he took it back with a shot from the left, without much danger for Hein (9th). For the rest, nothing to get your teeth into for either the Frenchman or Vinicius Jr. Only Rodrygo and Arda Guler seemed to be inspired.

Kylian Mbappé too discreet

After the break, Carlo Ancelotti, who was wondering how he was going to get out of this Sunday afternoon mess against the compact Valladolid block, was saved by his Swiss army knife Federico Valverde. The Uruguayan midfielder, on a free-kick combination, sent a mine that Karl Hein could not stop (1-0, 49th). A goal that relieved the Madrilenians but which allowed them to leave space. Arda Güler was the attacker who showed himself the most, and he came close to making the break. For his part, Mbappé went through the match without showing almost anything and even seemed overwhelmed by the event on certain actions.

The former PSG player ended his match by missing a point-blank opportunity while Valladolid still had chances. At the end of the match, Carlo Ancelotti decided to replace him to give Endrick some playing time. Following this change, Real Madrid finally found the flaw to seal their victory. Last season’s supersub, Brahim Diaz, scored the second goal with a nice lob and thus allowed his team to validate their 3 points. As a symbol, Endrick who replaced Mbappé, offered himself a goal in the last seconds on a beautiful sequence (3-0). Real Madrid is finally starting its season but will have to show much more if it wants to achieve its objectives for the season.