The new Real Madrid, with the dynamite display of Mbappé, Vinicius, Bellingham and Rodrygo, got bogged down in the first round of defending the league title. They were unable to translate into goals the panic caused in Greif’s area by their four big threats, at times with too much arabesque, and this version of Arrasate’s Mallorca, ambitious and daring, not only frustrated them, but also came close to a complete comeback while Madrid added pieces to the field without extracting more harvest.
1
Dominik Greif, Martin Valjent, Pablo Maffeo, Johan Mojica, Antonio Raíllo, Samú Costa, Omar Mascarell (Copete, min. 92), Sergi Darder (Manu Morlanes, min. 71), Dani Rodríguez (Antonio Sánchez, min. 66), Takuma Asano (Cyle Larin, min. 71) and Vedat Muriqi
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Thibaut Courtois, Dani Carvajal (Lucas Vázquez, min. 87), Antonio Rüdiger, Ferland Mendy, Éder Militão, Aurélien Tchouaméni (Luka Modric, min. 62), Federico Valverde, Jude Bellingham (Arda Güler, min. 87), Kylian Mbappé , Vinícius Júnior (Brahim Díaz, min. 87) and Rodrygo
Goals
0-1 min. 12: Rodrygo. 1-1 min. 52: Muriqi
Referee Cesar Soto Degree
Pablo Maffeo (min. 47), Arrasate (min. 47)
Red cards
Ferland Mendy (min. 96)
Ancelotti chose the same eleven with which he started the season by winning the European Super Cup in Warsaw. And those eleven flowed a little more than then, as if a couple of weeks had passed instead of four days. Mallorca is not Atalanta, the only team capable of beating Bayer Leverkusen last season, but Son Moix has been a tough place in recent visits. Especially for Vinicius, who in February last year suffered ten fouls and seems to have forgotten it less than the crowd. And Maffeo. The Brazilian ended up on the ground the first time they crossed paths and the public remembered that in 2023 they whistled at him every time the ball came to him, and he resumed venting his anger.
Not even five minutes had passed and the duel had already caught fire, with Vini between his lack of concentration and his overflow of talent. And Mallorca did their thing, more daring, more courageous than the old version of Javier Aguirre that took them to the last Copa del Rey final, which they lost against Athletic. They go looking for their opponents up front and when they recover, wherever it may be, they don’t hesitate, they don’t fear not taking cover; they launch themselves at the opposing goal. Sergi Darder, Mascarell and Samú Costa take advantage of the depth on the wings of two new players, Mojica and Asano. So much so that the first scare came from the Colombian to Courtois, who swatted his shot wide.
On their second night together, the new Madrid without Kroos was linking up better, with Rodrgyo often appearing in the centre of the field, helping Tchouameni, Valverde and Bellingham to create. The Englishman was once again the most clairvoyant in that area, launching Mbappé and Vinicius; in addition to displaying another night of very long runs, backwards to recover and forwards to accompany by stepping into the area.
Ancelotti’s new midfield is not a very elaborate production unit. It hardly needs to be. The team plays at two speeds. The start from the back is slow, conscientious in the search for the free man already from Courtois, almost at a walk, very pre-season, which is almost where this Madrid of so few training sessions is still situated. But the ball reached one of those up front, in the final zone and a flash of lightning occurred that accelerated everything. Vinicius, Rodrygo, Mbappé and Bellingham touched each other and Mallorca seemed to be watching the dance. They all mixed together inside the area. And in one of those where the four linked up, like in Warsaw’s second goal. Bellingham found Mbappé in the area, Vinicius rescued the ball that escaped from the Frenchman, he stepped it back and Rodrygo won the angle with two feints and scored the first goal of the League. Like last year.
Mallorca did not lose their composure despite the period in which Madrid monopolised the ball, which was sometimes too baroque and without finishing off a strike. Arrasate’s platoon had Muriqi, around whom everything happened. He was the player who bought time to get out, and also the target of all the passes, for which he maintained an intense aerial battle with Rüdiger. The German kept him under control, until the Kosovar slipped behind him in a corner taken by Dani Rodríguez and equalised. Mallorca continued to look for Muriqi and Madrid went through a period of confusion.
Bellingham came to the rescue again, putting the team back together with a formidable display. And so did Mbappé, who began to enter the area on the left, closer to the byline, and forced Greif into a difficult save near the post. But the knot could not be untied even by Modric, who came on for Tchouameni. And Mallorca, led by the daring Arrasate, did not sit back and wait, and Courtois trembled on two counterattacks. Ancelotti called on Brahim, Lucas and Arda, but it was too late. His dynamite has not yet exploded whenever they want it to.
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