Madrid: Spanish champions Real Madrid earned a 3-0 win over Real Valladolid in La Liga yesterday as Kylian Mbappe made his Santiago Bernabeu bow without finding the net. The French striker played at home for the first time in a Madrid shirt but was largely frustrated by Valladolid’s defence. Madrid midfielder Fede Valverde opened the scoring with a low deflected free-kick after 50 minutes and substitutes Brahim Diaz and debutant Endrick struck late on.
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. “It was very hard, above all at the start, we didn’t click in the way the coach wanted us to, we lacked attitude when attacking, we were too passive and improved a lot in the second half,” said Valverde.
“I’m very happy to help the team with goals but the important thing is the defensive work, of which I feel proud and these days I have to get involved in a lot.” 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 well wide before being replaced by 18-year-old Brazilian forward Endrick.
Mbappe made his dream switch to Madrid this summer at the end of his Paris Saint-Germ.