Real Madrid beat Real Valladolid (3-0) at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium on Sunday, on the second day of LaLiga EA Sports 2024-2025, thanks to goals from Fede Valverde, Brahim Díaz and Endrick, in a match that marked Kylian Mbappé’s debut in front of his home crowd and in which Carlos Ancelotti’s men had many problems creating any danger to the Pucelana goal. Fede Valverde, Brahim and Endrick were the protagonists of Real Madrid’s first victory of the season in the League. On a day in which all eyes were on Kylian Mbappé, who enjoyed his first minutes in the white shirt in front of his new fans, as well as the young Brazilian Endrick, who in his debut at the Santiago Bernabéu, managed to make his debut as a white goal scorer. In front of a crowd that was finally witnessing the debut of the much-missed striker, Ancelotti’s men offered the fans the latest title they had ever won, the European Super Cup. Despite the euphoria that had taken hold at the Whites’ ground, Real Madrid struggled to create any danger to Hein’s goal in the first half of the game against a Valladolid side that was very well positioned in defence. The first chance came from Mbappé, who volleyed a great ball with his left foot behind Rüdiger’s Pucela defence, forcing the Estonian goalkeeper to save. The visitors’ response came just under ten minutes later, with a shot from the edge of the area by Darwin that touched Rüdiger, passing just centimetres from the left post of Courtois’ goal. The pace of the game was slow, and Valladolid were very comfortable on the Santiago Bernabéu pitch. Thus, with Real Madrid lacking ideas in attack, the patience of the home crowd with their team lasted 40 minutes of the match. There, faced with the inability of Ancelotti’s men to create any danger, the white fans dedicated a loud whistle to the team. The whistles multiplied significantly as both teams went to the locker room after a poor first half. VALVERDE UNBLOCKS THE Clash The passage through the locker room spurred Real Madrid on, who came out for the second half with a much more active attitude and greater fluidity in their offensive play. In fact, Güler, who started at the expense of Luka Modric in the gap left by the injured Jude Bellingham, had the first opportunity just two minutes after the restart with a shot from inside the area with his right foot that was stopped by Hein. An opportunity that would be the harbinger of the first goal of the match. In the next play, a free kick on the edge of the box, slightly to the left, ended up in the back of Valladolid’s goal after a powerful shot from Valverde that the Valladolid goalkeeper could do something about, although it was slightly deflected by Juric. The goal broke the game and Valladolid’s plan, which was no longer enough to defend alone, thus finding Ancelotti’s men much more space to take advantage of the speed of Vinícius, Mbappé and Rodrygo. Thus, Güler, after a good pass from ‘Vini’, crashed a clear shot against an opponent, at the start of a match that was finally electric after a lethargy of almost 50 minutes. Meseguer also warned Real Madrid that they should not rest easy with Courtois’ response, although Raúl Moro’s response would be clearer shortly after after a loss by Vinícius that led to a very dangerous counterattack, but his shot did not find the target. Real Madrid recovered after these warnings and Rodrygo missed a one-on-one with Hein, being too generous with his pass, which was poorly executed. Güler, after a great individual play, forced Hein to save after a low shot with his left foot, his last chance before leaving the field to give minutes to Modric, who came on alongside Brahim Díaz in place of Rodrygo for the final 20 minutes. With 10 minutes to go, the game would again see chances in both areas. First Mbappé came close to celebrating his first goal as a Real Madrid player at the Bernabéu with a shot that was saved by Hein after a brilliant play by Vinícius, and in the next play, Sylla missed a one-on-one with Courtois after a great pass from Lucas Rosa. The final decision of the match came with three minutes to go before the 90th minute. A long pass from Militao was taken advantage of by Brahim, who stood strong against the Valladolid centre-backs, to end up beating Hein with a subtle chip after Vinícius and Mbappé had left the field. One of the replacements was the young Endrick, who showed his goalscoring skills and sealed the victory in added time. LINE-UPS. –RESULT: REAL MADRID, 3 – VALLADOLID, 0 (0-0, at half-time). –LINE-UPS. REAL MADRID: Courtois; Carvajal, Rüdiger, Militao, Fran García; Tchouaméni, Valverde, Güler (Modric, min.69); Rodrygo (Brahim, min.69), Vinícius (Ceballos, min.85) and Mbappé (Endrick, min.86). REAL VALLADOLID: Hein; Luis Perez, Comert, Boyomo, Rosa; Sanchez, Juric (Mario Martin, min. 71), Kike Perez (Ndiaye, min.85), Meseguer (Moro, min.58); Machis (Amallah, min.58) and Marcos Andre (Sylla, min. 71). –GOALS. 1-0, minute 50. Valverde. 2-0, minute 88. Brahim. 3-0, minute 95. Endrick. –REFEREE: Garcia Verdura (C.Catalan). He cautioned Arda Güler (min.52), for Real Madrid, and Marcos Andre (min.27), for Real Valladolid. –STADIUM: Santiago Bernabeu.
