Real Madrid secured their first win of the La Liga season as Carlo Ancelotti’s side strolled to a dominant 3-0 home victory against Real Valladolid.
Los Blancos are unbeaten in the opening two games of their league title defence with a campaign-starting 1-1 draw at Mallorca last weekend.
Second-half goals from Federico Valverde, Brahim Diaz, and a first club goal for Endrick Felipe, secured victory over Valladolid but the main post-match talking point focused on Ancelotti’s subdued attack led by Kylian Mbappe.
Mbappe’s summer arrival in Madrid has caused waves in the Spanish capital and he scored on his club debut in the 2-0 UEFA Super Cup final win over Atalanta.
However, his league start has been less eye-catching, with two shots on target failing to yield a goal at Mallorca, and three against Valladolid.
Ancelotti will maintain his trademark calm over Mbappe’s start but it marks the repeat of a record the French international did not want in his early days at the club.
Mbappe’s burst into the AS Monaco team midway through the 2015/16 season saw him break Thierry Henry’s record as the club’s youngest Ligue 1 appearance maker and his subsequent goal record.
As a first team regular, in 2016/17, he scored in both of his first two league starts, albeit spread from August to October. and he scored in one of his first two league starts as a PSG player in 2017/18.
In 2018/19 and 2019/20, he scored at least once in the opening two league outings, before injury saw him miss the start of 2020/21, with 2021/22 the only previous time he failed to find the net in the opening two rounds of a league season.
That has now been matched in Madrid, and Mbappe has not failed to score in his first three starting league appearances in a season in his career, as all eyes turn to Real Madrid’s trip to Las Palmas on August 29.