Spanish champions Real Madrid earned a 3-0 win over Real Valladolid in La Liga on Sunday as Kylian Mbappe made his Santiago Bernabeu bow without finding the net.
Atletico Madrid comfortably beat last season’s surprise package Girona by the same scoreline later on in the capital.
Madrid’s French striker Mbappe played at home for the first time in a Los Blancos shirt, but was largely frustrated by Valladolid’s defense.
Photo: Reuters
Madrid midfielder Fede Valverde opened the scoring after 50 minutes and substitutes Brahim Diaz and debutant Endrick struck late on.
Without the injured Jude Bellingham Madrid created little in the first half, but did enough after the break to earn their first win of the season, following an opening draw at Real Mallorca.
Still lacking fluency in attack, Carlo Ancelotti’s side stayed two points behind rivals Barcelona, who beat Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
“We were too slow in the first half, the second half we were much more active, there was more movement, much faster with the ball,” Ancelotti said.
Real Valladolid set out to frustrate the champions in the summer heat and succeeded for 45 minutes.
Madrid came out with more bite in the second half and Valverde smashed home a vicious low free-kick with the help of a deflection to break the deadlock.
Mbappe blew a golden opportunity to get off the mark when Vinicius cut the ball across to him, but Estonian goalkeeper Karl Hein saved well.
The France captain had another chance on the counter-attack, but fired wide before being replaced by 18-year-old Brazilian forward Endrick.
Mbappe scored on his debut in a UEFA Super Cup triumph, but in La Liga has failed to score in his opening two matches.
Diaz secured Madrid’s win with a neat lobbed finish and then teed up Endrick, who drilled home at the near post to celebrate his first appearance for the club in style.
“[Endrick] has got a lot of potential and for his goal he showed his quality,” Ancelotti said.
“He’s a centre-forward who plays in the box, in small spaces he’s very dangerous,” he said.
Madrid signed Endrick from Brazilian club Palmeiras in 2022, but he arrived this summer, once old enough to move.
Elsewhere, Antoine Griezmann, Marcos Llorente and Koke’s strikes helped Diego Simeone’s Atletico claim their first win of the campaign against Girona.
Julian Alvarez started for the Rojiblancos at their Metropolitano stadium while new arrival Conor Gallagher made his debut as a substitute after joining from Chelsea.
“The fans were really excited for this one, playing at home for the first time in some time, with new signings — a perfect night,” Griezmann said.
Girona, who lost several key players in the summer, have only one point from their first two matches.
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
Defender Steph Catley says her UEFA Women’s Champions League title win with Arsenal last week will act as motivation to secure continental glory with Australia when the country hosts the Women’s Asian Cup next year. Catley and compatriots Caitlin Foord and Kyra Cooney-Cross were part of the Arsenal squad that defeated Barcelona in Lisbon on Sunday last week, before flying to Melbourne to feature in the Matildas’ 2-0 win over Argentina on Friday. The game was the first in a two-match series against the South Americans as the Australians continue preparations for the continental championship in March next year, when they would
RSS