Madrid win but Mbappe fires Bernabeu blanks
Spanish champions Real Madrid earned a 3-0 win
over Real Valladolid in La Liga on Sunday as Kylian Mbappe made his Santiago
Bernabeu bow without finding the net.
Atletico Madrid comfortably beat last season's
surprise package Girona by the same scoreline later on in the capital.
Madrid's French striker Mbappe played at home
for the first time in a Los Blancos shirt but was largely frustrated by
Valladolid's defence.
Madrid midfielder Fede Valverde opened the
scoring after 50 minutes and substitutes Brahim Diaz and debutant Endrick
struck late on.
Without the injured Jude Bellingham 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.
"We were too slow in the first half, the
second half we were much more active, there was more movement, much faster with
the ball," said Ancelotti.
Real Valladolid set out to frustrate the
champions in the summer heat and succeeded for 45 minutes.
Madrid came out with more bite in the second
half and Valverde smashed home a vicious low free-kick with the help of a
deflection to break the deadlock.
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 wide before being replaced by 18-year-old
Brazilian forward Endrick.
Mbappe scored on his debut in a UEFA Super Cup
triumph but in La Liga, has failed to score in his opening two matches.
"He's a spectacular forward, very fast,
moves well without the ball, attacks in behind, he had three or four chances
(which were) created with his movement," said Ancelotti.
"In this position, he will score like he
always scores, I don't think he needs to play from the left, in the centre in
the end he will score goals."
Diaz secured Madrid's win with a neat lobbed
finish and then teed up Endrick, who drilled home at the near post to celebrate
his first appearance for the club in style.
"(Endrick) has got a lot of potential and
for his goal he showed his quality," added Ancelotti.
"He's a centre-forward who plays in the
box, in small spaces he's very dangerous."
Madrid signed Endrick from Palmeiras in 2022 but
he arrived this summer, once old enough to move.
Antoine Griezmann, Marcos Llorente and Koke's
strikes helped Diego Simeone's Atletico claim their first win of the campaign
against Girona.
Julian Alvarez started for the Rojiblancos at
their Metropolitano stadium while new arrival Conor Gallagher made his debut as
a substitute after joining from Chelsea.
"The fans were really excited for this one,
playing at home for the first time in some time, with new signings -- a perfect
night," said Griezmann.
The hosts had control of the game as Michel
Sanchez's Girona, who finished third ahead of fourth-place Atletico last term,
struggled to make an impact.
Griezmann put Atletico ahead shortly before the
interval with a hard and low free-kick which caught goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga
out.
Llorente increased the lead early in the second
half with a thunderbolt from outside the area which flashed into the roof of
the net.
Girona, who lost several key players in the
summer, have only one point from their first two matches.
Koke wrapped up Atletico's win on the
counter-attack in stoppage time when Llorente put the ball on a plate for him
to finish.
"It's a process, the
season is long but we want to get to our best version as soon as we can,"
said Girona midfielder Oriol Romeu.
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