Kylian Mbappe will make his home debut for Real Madrid against Real Valladolid on Sunday.
Kylian Mbappe’s La Liga debut for Real Madrid did not go as planned, as Los Blancos drew at Mallorca last weekend, with coach Carlo Ancelotti believing the Spanish champions lacked “balance.”
The French superstar striker will make his first home appearance for Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Sunday against promoted side Real Valladolid, owned by former Madrid forward and Brazil great Ronaldo.
Mbappe is on course to enjoy a similarly sizable legacy in soccer, but is hoping to make a far greater impact at Madrid than Ronaldo was able to during the club’s “galactico” era.
Ronaldo won just one La Liga title and failed to lift the Champions League trophy during five seasons in the Spanish capital between 2002 and 2007.
One of the biggest problems during that period was a top-heavy side which boasted several superstar attackers but lost lynchpin Claude Makelele.
Ancelotti lined up with Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo Goes and Jude Bellingham in the 2-0 UEFA Super Cup win over Atalanta and the 1-1 Mallorca draw, but criticized his team’s balance after both matches.
“We just had to do better, with more attitude, you can learn from these games — it’s clear where the problem is,” Ancelotti told reporters last week.
“We need to defend better, we need more balance.”
One issue for Madrid is that Mbappe, Vinicius and Rodrygo all prefer to be shifted towards the left flank.
Another is that by playing all three forwards, Bellingham is pushed back into a midfield role, when it seems that after last season’s superb debut campaign, when he helped Madrid win La Liga and the Champions League, he is most content contributing in attacking areas.
“(Balance) is found by all players thinking the same thing — when it comes to getting the ball back we all have to think about it together,” the Italian coach said.
“It’s a team problem that they didn’t understand was a key aspect in this game, Mallorca played a great game in a defensive sense, better than us.”
While Real Valladolid, which beat fellow promoted side Espanyol in its first match, does not pose too much of a threat to Madrid on paper, the sooner Ancelotti can get his team firing on all cylinders the happier he will be.
After being linked to Madrid for years, Mbappe completed his dream move this summer at the end of his contract with Paris Saint-Germain.
The forward clinically struck against Atalanta in Warsaw but was shut out by Mallorca and goalkeeper Dominik Greif.
Mbappe will hope to mark his first Bernabeu appearance for Madrid with a goal, weeks after he was greeted there by over 80,000 fans during his introduction.
Once Madrid’s forwards are on song, they will be difficult for any side to stop.
“When I saw them running towards me, I just prayed to God and asked myself — ‘what am I doing here?'” Mallorca defender Pablo Maffeo said.
Madrid’s remarkable firepower could be a double-edged sword, with teams rising to the challenge of stopping the attacking quartet dubbed the “Fantastic Four.”
“We’re going to face the best team in the world, with one of the best coaches in history and the best attack in the world today,” Valladolid coach Paulo Pezzolano said.
“We know what we’re going to face, but we’re going there convinced that we’re going to compete and bring something back home, knowing that it’s difficult, but that we can do it.”
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