Real Madrid briefing: Mbappe frustrated on La Liga debut as ...

Real Madrid began their title defence with a 1-1 draw at Mallorca as the excitement over Kylian Mbappe’s La Liga debut ended up falling flat.

Following Rodrygo’s opening goal in the first half, the home side rallied and equalised shortly after the break when Vedat Muriqi’s powerful header found the net from a corner.

Madrid had the majority of possession and created several chances, but their frustrations were summed up by Ferland Mendy’s late challenge on Muriqi — the left-back was shown a straight red card for a wild tackle on the Kosovo striker in stoppage time.

Carlo Ancelotti, Madrid’s manager, described the result as “correct”, adding: “We can learn a lot from this game.”

Let’s take a look at the key talking points.

It was only natural that all eyes were on Mbappe again. As was the case for Wednesday’s UEFA Super Cup in Warsaw, when he scored on his first Madrid appearance as Atalanta were beaten 2-0, he featured prominently on the stadium’s big screens before kick-off.

The Mallorca fans were more curious than they were hostile. Perhaps a nice gesture from Madrid’s star signing played a part, with the Frenchman asking police officers to let a kid with his jersey approach him for an autograph.

Performing what seems to be something of a personal ritual, Mbappe stood alone in the centre of the pitch for a few moments before the game started. What awaited him was a disappointment similar to that suffered by David Beckham (a 2-1 defeat in the 2003 Supercopa de Espana first leg) and Jose Mourinho (a 0-0 draw in La Liga in 2010) in their first games with Madrid — both also away to Mallorca.

Taking up positions in the centre and on the left of the attack, Mbappe was heavily involved in Madrid’s play but at times lacked a little precision in his game — something normal for the time of the season and given that he is still settling.

His most ‘Mbappe-esque’ action was a run from his own half that brought rising appreciation from the stands and ended in a penalty appeal that was turned down in the sixth minute.

He had chances to score but was denied twice by Mallorca goalkeeper Dominik Greif in the second half, drawing grimaces of frustration from Mbappe and huge cheers from the home crowd, by then fully convinced he and Madrid could be stopped.

It felt different at the time — coming as it did during a spell of total Madrid dominance — but one move in the 36th minute summed up Madrid’s night. Several brilliant connections between Rodrygo, Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior (including two backheels) ended up with a dinked cross for Mbappe to finish from the left, but Greif was just able to divert it away from the waiting striker. It was very nice, but nothing came of it.

Rodrygo has been a prominent name for months due to rumours about his exit, even though he wants to stay. This has its origin in interviews in the week of the Champions League final in which he left the door open to a possible departure. The reason? He was hurt by reports and opinions that described him as the one harmed by Mbappe’s arrival.

The 2-0 Super Cup win did not help this as he was the least prominent in a bright attacking display. Spanish media even trumpeted the ‘BMV’ connection in celebration of Bellingham, Mbappe and Vinicius Jr’s combinations. They all featured on the front page of newspaper Marca in a photo where Rodrygo was quite obviously cut out, just his hand on the trophy appearing.

Such was the commotion that the next day’s cover featured the headline ‘Ancelotti pampers Rodrygo’ — in what was seen to be an apology.

Rodrygo did his talking on the pitch on Sunday night, with a lovely curled strike for the opening goal. La Liga’s in-game graphics said the forward only had a 6.3 per cent chance of finding the net from the opportunity, with several Mallorca defenders crowding him inside the box. He celebrated by kissing the badge on his shirt and praying on his knees. He was Madrid’s first scorer of the season — just like last term.

During the drinks break about 15 minutes later, he re-enacted the goal when watching the replay on the big screen. With more of that style, he will force the media to talk about the ‘BMVR‘.

Time will tell whether it is simply a detail or something more, but Ancelotti’s late changes were also interesting to observe. Rodrygo was kept on, as was Mbappe, despite having trained less than Vinicius Jr in pre-season, with Bellingham also withdrawn for a final throw forward. Unfortunately for Madrid, the only late drama came with Mendy’s sending off.

Anyone who had missed the game or not seen the result would have immediately understood what Ancelotti made of the outcome from the severe look on his face as soon as he arrived for his post-match news conference.

“Last year I was happy after a few draws, but not today,” said the Italian. “There are no excuses.”

It was a tense atmosphere made only more so by microphones failing to work, making it difficult for Madrid’s manager to understand some of the questions for him.

Briefly, he dealt with one of the most pointed criticisms among media and fans — that he made changes too late. Luke Modric came on for Aurelien Tchouameni in the 62nd minute, before Lucas Vazquez, Arda Guler and Brahim Diaz entered in the 87th, when Dani Carvajal, Bellingham and Vinicius Jr were taken off. “Maybe (they were too late), everyone has their own opinion,” was Ancelotti’s response.

But there was more detail in a different message he suggested had already been communicated to his squad — one The Athletic reflected back in July.

“We have to concentrate more, it’s not a physical or mental problem,” he said. “We need more balance. We had said it because we are very offensive.”

(Top photo: Cristian Trujillo/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)

Mario Cortegana Santos is a Football Writer for The Athletic covering Real Madrid. He has followed Los Blancos since 2019 at Diario AS, Goal.com and MARCA. He usually appears on Gol TV and is a main collaborator in the YouTube show The Four Amigos Podcast. He has covered the EURO 2020 and Qatar 2022. Follow Mario on Twitter @MarioCortegana