The Kylian Mbappé era in LaLiga started with a somewhat underwhelming draw away to Mallorca for Madrid on the opening weekend of the 2024/25 season.
By Graham Ruthven
Indeed, the Spanish and European champions could have suffered defeat in their first game of the campaign and will therefore be expecting a more assertive performance against Real Valladolid at the Santiago Bernabéu on Sunday.
Ferland Mendy will be unavailable for Real Madrid’s home opener after the Frenchman was shown red against Mallorca, giving Carlo Ancelotti a selection headache on the left side of his defence.
Eduardo Camavinga played at left back on occasion last season, but he too will be unavailable for the match against Valladolid after suffering a knee injury last week. David Alaba, another left back option, is also injured. Fran García could subsequently start.
Real Valladolid started their 2024/25 campaign with a 1-0 home win over Espanyol which saw summer signing Raúl Moro score the game’s only goal in the first half.
However, Moro’s goal came from Real Valladolid’s only shot on target which suggests they may struggle to create opportunities against the defending champions on their own patch this weekend.
Paulo Pezzolano is known for being an attack-minded manager, but will almost certainly have to adopt a more pragmatic approach at the Bernabéu otherwise his team could be picked off. Valladolid are expected to line up in a relatively rigid 4-5-1 formation.
Madrid are currently on an unbeaten run in LaLiga that stretches back 33 games. On top of this, they have won eight of their last nine home matches against Valladolid in all competitions and haven’t conceded to the Pucela in their last five meetings.
Nonetheless, Ancelotti’s side have yet to find top gear in the early stages of this season with Mbappé still being integrated into the forward line. The Frenchman touched the ball 44 times against Mallorca and was somewhat isolated.
Ancelotti is having to balance the attacking talents of Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo with Jude Bellingham now being pushed deeper into midfield (although he is now injured according to the latest reports) to give Real Madrid some sort of structure.
If Valladolid can gain a foothold in the centre of the pitch, like Mallorca did on opening weekend, they could pose a threat in the capital. Otherwise, it’s probable that they will be smothered by the sheer weight of Real Madrid’s attacking talent.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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