Early morning of August 30 (Vietnam time), Real Madrid visited Las Palmas in round 3 of La Liga 2024-2025 knowing that they had to bring back 3 points to narrow the gap with Barcelona - the team that has won 3 consecutive matches.
Facing a not-so-strong opponent, coach Carlo Ancelotti made adjustments to the starting lineup, with Lucaz Vazquez, Luka Modric, and Brahim Diaz starting in three positions.
Kylian Mbappe is still the "number 9", but as has happened since the beginning of the season, he always swaps positions with Vinicius Junior depending on the play.
Las Palmas lost both matches against Real Madrid in the 2023-2024 season, so for Madridista, everyone is only thinking about the number of goals and Mbappe's first goal in La Liga.
However, before the white players could get into the rhythm of the match, Thibaut Courtois' net shook. Alberto Moleiro danced past two defenders of the away team before finishing decisively across the corner.
When Real Madrid added Mbappe, their attacking power increased, but at the same time, their opponents became more alert and played more tightly. So, once again, the Royal team was stuck in the penetration phase, despite having a superior number of shots.
Of the total 25 shots taken by Mbappe and his teammates, home team goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen saved 7 times. Quite a few shots from long range were taken, showing the stalemate of Los Blancos.
It was not until the 69th minute, when a Las Palmas defender blocked the ball with his hand in the penalty area, that Real Madrid equalized 1-1 from Vinicius' penalty.
There was enough time left to find another goal, but even when Mbappe was kept on for the rest of the game and Endrick came on in the final minutes, there was no further celebration for the defending champions.
Real Madrid returned with just 1 point, clearly a poor response after Barcelona "declared war" with 3 consecutive wins.
Of course, coach Ancelotti was not satisfied. He assessed his team's first half as "bad". "The team had no balance, the ball was not circulated quickly enough. It was difficult to win the ball back", said the Italian strategist,
“That happened in the draw with Mallorca. I don’t see any improvement in the team. We need to find and improve quickly.”
Real Madrid are fifth in the table with five points from three games. This weekend, Los Blancos return to the Bernabeu to face Real Betis.
