Kylian Mbappe was left frustrated on his Real Madrid La Liga debut on Sunday as a resilient RCD Mallorca held the Spanish and European champions to a 1-1 draw in their title defense opener.
The French superstar was thwarted by Mallorca goalkeeper Dominik Greif, and after Rodrygo sent Madrid ahead early on the hosts leveled in the second half through Vedat Muriqi’s towering header.
Madrid’s star-studded side struggled to break down Mallorca, who came closer to winning the game in the final stages at Mallorca Son Moix Stadium.
Photo: AFP
Los Blancos defender Ferland Mendy was sent off during stoppage-time for a high challenge on Muriqi.
“We went ahead, we had chances to score the second, and then in the second half we lacked balance,” Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said. “We conceded counterattacks, it was not a good game, it was quite a clear game to see that we need to defend better and have better balance on the pitch.”
Ancelotti selected the same starting lineup that defeated Atalanta BC to win the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday last week, with Jude Bellingham in midfield behind the Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo attacking line.
Mbappe scored in that victory, but the former Paris Saint-Germain forward was unable to celebrate his first match in his new homeland with another goal.
Ancelotti was not impressed with his team’s work rate.
“We have to do better, with more attitude,” he said. “This game can serve us to learn a lot from, it’s a game where it was quite clear where we had a problem... Mallorca had a very good game in a defensive sense, better than us.”
Mallorca coach Jagoba Arrasate was facing his first match in charge of the Copa del Rey runners-up and could not have asked for a tougher challenge on paper than the reigning champions, bolstered by Mbappe’s arrival.
However, his team rose to the challenge and earned a creditable point.
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