Soccer Football - LaLiga - Real Madrid v Real Valladolid - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - August 25, 2024 Real Madrid's Brahim Diaz scores their second goal REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura
MADRID (Reuters) -Second-half strikes by Federico Valverde, Brahim Diaz and Endrick gave feeble Real Madrid an unconvincing 3-0 win over lowly Real Valladolid on Sunday, earning the defending champions their first win of the LaLiga season.
Kylian Mbappe’s home debut as a Real Madrid player is unlikely to live long in the memory as the France captain and most of the club’s so-called “New Galacticos” were ineffective in a lacklustre performance.
Following what looked like a promising start to Mbappe’s era with a 2-0 win over Europa League champions Atalanta to lift the UEFA Super Cup less than two weeks ago, Real have put on dreary performances to kick off the LaLiga season, with a 1-1 draw at Mallorca last week.
On Sunday, although Real dominated possession, they struggled to breach Valladolid's ultra-defensive approach in a slow-paced first-half in Madrid's sultry summer heat.
Despite an early volley by Mbappe that was palmed away by goalkeeper Karl Hein, Real were out of ideas up front, missing England maestro Jude Bellingham who will be out for several weeks due to a leg muscle injury sustained in training on Friday.
Other than a couple of individual efforts by Rodrygo, they were unable to create any chances and went to the changing room to the sound of boos from some of the home fans.
Real came back unchanged yet livelier in the second half and broke the deadlock from a free kick in the 50th minute, with Valverde slotting in a thunderous strike from the edge of the box.
Arda Guler and Rodrygo adjusted the angle to tee up the ball for Valverde who flashed a daisy-cutter across the Santiago Bernabeu turf and into the back of Hein's net, just inside the left post.
Rodrygo, Guler and Mbappe missed three chances minutes later in a short spell when the locals looked more inspired but they slowly reverted to the first-half version of themselves and were lucky not to concede goals in clear chances squandered by Valladolid substitutes Mamadou Sylla and Raul Moro in the 80th and 82nd minutes.
Late strikes by substitutes Diaz, in the 88th minute, and Endrick, six minutes into added time, secured Real a win that failed to tell the full story of their performance, suggesting they may need to work harder than expected to fit Mbappe into their squad.
Real Madrid are third in the LaLiga standings with four points from two games, two behind leaders Barcelona and Celta Vigo.
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas, editing by Pritha Sarkar and Clare Fallon)
