- Real Madrid drew 1-1 with Mallorca in the LaLiga season opener
- Carlo Ancelotti’s attackers struggled to connect in a poor performance
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Real Madrid’s new Galacticos have come under fire after their first LaLiga match, with their forwards warned to ‘focus’ after struggling against Mallorca.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side drew 1-1 in the season opener last weekend, with Kylian Mbappé unable to score on his league debut, and Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo all underperforming.
Mbappe, who joined Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent this summer, was kept to a three-man centre in attack, while Vinicius was ineffective on the left and Rodrygo failed to impress on the other flank.
Bellingham played on the left of midfield but often found himself running into his team-mates, creating a bottleneck and Ancelotti was furious at the lack of balance after the final whistle.
Spanish publication Brand were quick to capitalise on the same problem, urging Mbappé and his attacking teammates to sharpen up on their front page.
Real Madrid forward Galactico came under fire after their lacklustre 1-1 draw against Mallorca
Kylian Mbappe failed to impress on his LaLiga debut and faced a major problem
As can be seen on Marca’s heatmaps, four attackers drifted to the left during the match
The headline read ‘They need to focus’ and the outlet added that the ‘heat map of the White attack against Mallorca shows a block on the left flank’. The accompanying graph showed the average positions of Bellingham, Mbappe, Vinicius and Rodrygo.
It turned out that all four players tended to end up in pockets on the left side. This lopsided system created large holes in the middle and on the right side.
Bellingham took up wide positions midway through Mallorca’s half, while Mbappe operated on the left of the penalty area, far from his role as a No. 9. Both Vinicius and Rodrygo were also unable to stretch their opponents down the right.
Mbappe made an immediate impact for Los Blancos after scoring on his UEFA Super Cup debut against Atalanta. Ancelotti started with the same attacking line-up and will be hoping for more of the same at the start of their title defence.
But after the disappointing performance of new big name Mbappé, supporters were concerned that his role in midfield would not be played to its full potential.
Jude Bellingham operated in a three-man midfield but Madrid struggled to stretch their opponents
Vinicius Junior was also part of the same bottlenecks, which left boss Carlo Ancelotti furious
According to Marca, many believe his strengths lie in operating from the wings, where his formidable pace and dribbling ability can cut inside and pose a threat.
His best performances for PSG came from the flanks.
In contrast, the striker requires strong postural play and physical strength against defenders, which clashes with Mbappé’s preference for touchline tricks.
Rodrygo had put Madrid ahead after just 13 minutes, but Mallorca grabbed a deserved point shortly after half-time when Vedat Muriqi scored.
To make matters worse, Madrid defender Ferland Mendy was sent off in injury time of the second half, leaving the visitors with ten men in the dying seconds.
“The balance is found with players who think the same way when we have to win back the ball,” Ancelotti complained in a post-match interview.
Bellingham was seen in the players’ tunnel during half-time urging those in front of him to pay attention
Ancelotti addressed the imbalance in his team and insisted that his entire squad should return
‘We all have to go. Everyone might think it’s a problem of the strikers, but it could also be a problem of the defenders or the midfielders.
“They didn’t understand that this was a very important aspect.”