By Humberto Viera
Aug 18, 2024, 5:51 PM EDT
Frenchman Kylian Mbappé’s La Liga debut was marred by a 1-1 draw against a Mallorca side that stopped Real Madrid in their tracks at the Son Moix stadium.
A goal from Vedat Muriqi ended the hopes of a Real Madrid side that had struck first in the first half thanks to a goal from Brazilian Rodrygo Goes.
The reigning champions started off with a great goal from Rodrygo in the 12th minute. With a backheel from Vinicius inside the area, Rodrygo received the ball and feinted twice to create space and take a perfect shot to the far post, unstoppable for Greif.
In the second half, Mallorca equalised after a corner kick from Dani Rodríguez to the far post, where Muriqi arrived to connect with the header that sent it past Courtois in the 52nd minute.
The match took on a pace that at any moment either team could have scored a goal. In fact, Mallorca came close to reducing the deficit towards the end of the match with two clear chances missed by Antonio Sánchez to defeat the reigning champions.
For his part, the Frenchman Mbppaé was unable to appear much, mainly due to positional issues since Vinícius occupies the place where the Frenchman feels most comfortable attacking.
Carlo Ancelotti’s team ended up suffering their first match in La Liga without a win in the sixth season he has been in charge of the white team, largely due to not turning moments of superiority into goals.
Muriqi’s goal from a corner, taking advantage of a poor jump by Antonio Rüdiger, gave Mallorca a point that came close to victory in the final minutes when Antonio Sánchez had two chances.
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