It was Endrick, not Kylian Mbappe, who scored on his Real Madrid debut at the Bernabeu. The Brazilian striker replaced Mbappe and scored the winning goal to seal a 3-0 victory for Los Blancos against Real Valladolid.
First impressions are very important, especially after a long wait. Mbappe's stroll at the Bernabeu in Real Madrid's shirt was the moment he and the club's fans had long waited for. However, things did not go as they expected.
No goals, no smiles and no brand celebration of the French striker. Of course, the "White Vultures" still won thanks to goals in the second half from Federico Valverde, Brahim Diaz and Endrick. However, the performance of Mbappe and the Real Madrid team in the first 45 minutes showed that they are still in the process of improvement.
In the 86 minutes on the pitch, Mbappe had the fewest touches and made the fewest passes among Real Madrid players. And considering the most important task of a striker is to score, the captain of the French team also seems unlucky.
Mbappe had a total of 4 shots, 3 of which were blocked by Valladolid's Karl Hein goalkeeper. The most regrettable of which was Mbappe's intelligent but unsatisfactory heck after a pass from Vinicius. In addition, Mbappe also had a tripping shot wide of the goal before being substituted.
With the score 1-0 in favor of Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti felt unsafe and brought Luka Modric, Brahim Diaz, Dani Ceballos onto the pitch. After Diaz increased the gap to 2 goals, Endrick also spoke up and decided the match.
Mbappe's position in the Real Madrid squad is quite clear. He is a striker, with Vinicius and Rodrygo supporting on both wings. Speaking after the match, Ancelotti affirmed that Mbappe was not affected when playing the highest position in attack. However, against a tightly organized Valladolid, Mbappe has little space to operate and promote his best quality, speed.
Meanwhile, there have been many questions about Endrick's readiness at the highest level. But the goal against Valladolid partly proved that the 18-year-old striker was ready. " Endrick has great potential. With today's goal, he has shown all his qualities" - Ancelotti commented on his student.
Returning to Mbappe, in fact, this was not the first time he played at the Bernabeu. The French striker has walked this stadium 3 times before, but all of them were for Paris St Germain. Los Blancos fans understand Mbappe's talent and will wait patiently.
While Endrick has dropped the burden, Mbappe will have to continue to move forward as a turning point in the new era of the "White Vultures".
" Mbappe was not tied when playing as a 'number 9'. He is an excellent striker, agile and moves very well without the ball. Today, Mbappe has had three or four chances and he will score the way he always does, no matter where he plays," Ancelotti added.
