Kylian Mbappe was denied and opening double victory with Real Madrid in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with RCD Mallorca in La Liga. The French superstar opened his account with the Spanish giants with a goal in their UEFA Super Cup victory over Atalanta BC midweek. Los Blancos were unable to register three points as they launched their domestic title defense in Mbappe’s league debut at Estadi Mallorca Son Moix.
Rodygo’s early opening goal was canceled out by Vedat Muriqi’s second-half leveler and Carlo Ancelotti’s side could not find a winning goal. It is extremely early days in La Liga but Real start their campaign with a two-point deficit to bitter rivals Barcelona which should be heeded as an indication that they might not walk to the title. Mbappe and Los Merengues got off lightly too as the hosts wasted a handful of late opportunities to possibly punish their visitors further.
The game itself was a massive event in Spanish soccer with a host of familiar faces present to see the France international captain taking his first steps with the Madrid giants. Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni and local tennis legend Rafa Nadal were among the famous faces present and they almost saw an Mbappe penalty within the opening few minutes. Real’s shouts for a spot kick were waved away after a lightning burst of pace ended with him being bundled over near Mallorca’s penalty box.
However, it did not take long for the former Paris Saint-Germain man to be involved as both he and Vinicius Junior contributed towards the buildup which eventually ended with Rodrygo putting the away side 1-0 up. A variety of chances across both halves including a save from Dominik Greif meant that Mbappe ended his first La Liga outing without a goal to match his Super Cup strike. He also saw his compatriot Ferland Mendy shown a straight red card late on for a wild challenge as frustrations began to show from Los Blancos.
Although there will be disappointment that Mbappe was unable to pair his goal-scoring debut outing against Atalanta with another match-winning showing against Mallorca, it might actually end up being for the better. An easy win for Ancelotti’s side could have lured them into a false sense of security given how easy the start to life with Mbappe could have seemed. The truth is that La Liga, the UEFA Champions League and the Copa del Rey will all be challenging to win this year and will require a new team ethos to be established.
The early signs have been encouraging given some of the chances created by and for Mbappe but it will take fine-tuning as both games so far have shown regarding his positioning and coexistence with the likes of Vini Jr. and Jude Bellingham who ended up substituted late on here. Possession statistics suggest that Real dominated Mallorca but the islanders gave as good as they got and created chances themselves. Thibaut Courtois conceding his first goal of the new season certainly illustrated that there are defensive improvements to be made despite the dangers posed by Real’s new-look attack.
Two points should not prove to be fatal at this early stage but Real and Mbappe must be careful that they do not do this too often — especially away from home. In a league where El Clasico results can often shape the outcome of the title race, Los Merengues cannot afford to drop too many points in their title defense against midtable opposition like Mallorca. Equally, though, similar creativity in front of goal would normally result in hitting the back of the net more than once.
Mbappe fever will last for some time to come in Spain and the Champions League itself will bring added excitement as the France national team captain continues to adapt to his new teammates. This is an early sign that simply adding him to this team does not automatically spell collective chemistry and success. That will take both time and hard work which must be committed to the early weeks and months of the season if it is to end with the glory expected of this star-studded squad.
KVSP