Kylian Mbappe's first Real Madrid fiasco

After just one game, alarm bells are already ringing at the Santiago Bernabeu. The team began their Spanish league campaign with a disappointing draw, leading sports analysts to suggest that something isn't clicking. Even with the arrival of Mbappe, the team is lacking something...

On the first day of La Liga, Kylian Mbappe's new-look Real Madrid, labelled by the press as the "neo-galactic" team, faced their first setback. Despite the hype of being an invincible squad, Mallorca stepped up and held them to a draw, taking away two crucial points right at the start of the season.

Real Madrid's victory in the European Super Cup against Atalanta secured their first title of the season, but only fuelled the supporters' expectations and added more pressure on Ancelotti's squad. Although the team didn’t play poorly, they struggled to overcome Mallorca's tactical approach, leaving fans and analysts questioning their readiness for the challenges ahead.

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Real Madrid took the lead with a brilliant goal from Rodrygo Goes in the 12th minute, but overconfidence eventually cost them. Kosovo striker Vedat Muriqi equalized in the 52nd minute, and despite Madrid's efforts, they couldn't break through the resolute defense set up by Mallorca manager Jagoba Arrasate Elustondo, leaving the match in a frustrating draw.

This Real Madrid team has been plagued by issues reminiscent of those from the days of the Galacticos and even earlier. In the first half, they displayed controlling football, but eventually became disjointed, creating gaps that allowed Mallorca to capitalize on numerous and dangerous opportunities.

Overall, Real Madrid didn't perform poorly, but their midfield was notably weak. Valverde lacked his usual sharpness, and Tchouameni appeared nervous and erratic, leading to his substitution by Modric. After the match against Mallorca, many Madridistas are likely reminiscing about the steady presence of Toni Kroos.

The changes made by the Italian coach did not help either. Ancelotti continues his usual approach, giving few options to the substitutes, especially with Lucas Vazquez, Arda Güler, and Brahim Diaz, who barely had a chance to do anything, coming on in the 87th minute.

The Spanish press highlighted the stumble in the headlines of their articles. "Madrid falls asleep in Palma," was the headline of AS, while Marca pointed out that "Muriqi sets limits for Real Madrid" and highlighted the fiasco in its print edition with a resounding "failure".

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But the criticism for the poor result was not only external, as Ancelotti also criticized himself by giving his players a dressing down for their attitude, their lack of defensive intensity, and their pressure, which led Mallorca to even outperform Real Madrid in shots on goal (12 versus 10).

"We started well, but in the second half we lacked balance, it was a game that could have been lost. If you don't have a balance at the back, you give in to counterattacks, you give in to crosses... It wasn't a good game, it was actually a fairly clear game, we have to defend better, have more balance on the pitch," he said in a press conference, according to AS.

"We are a very offensive team, but defensive balance is essential. (…) I don't want to make excuses. We just had to do better, with more attitude. When you talk about the defensive aspect, you talk above all about attitude, about commitment. It was difficult for us to recover the ball, it was difficult for us to apply pressure after losing the ball," he added.

"All of that needs to be improved. The team was too open, we needed to be more focused, and more united. It's not a physical or mental problem. It's just a problem of thinking about it," the Italian stressed, giving his players a clear warning for the future.

"It's not a problem of one, two or three. It's a team problem. In this game we didn't understand that it was an important aspect in this game and Mallorca did better than us, they played a very good defensive game. The draw is correct," he concluded.

Real Madrid also did not escape being the indiscriminate target of the best memes of the day, which focused on the 'Los Blancos' slip-up and Mbappe's disappointing League debut. Can they turn things around?

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