Real Madrid, as expected, did not show any weakness against bottom-placed Real Valladolid. The orange royals won 3-0, thereby extending their lead at the top of the table and celebrating Mbappé’s premiere.
76 percent possession, almost 400 passes completed with a success rate of 93 percent: Real Madrid made it clear in the first 45 minutes of the game against Real Valladolid that victory on this 21st matchday of LaLiga would only come through the capital city club.
And so it came to pass, although the first chance of the game went to the bottom of the table – and when Torres advanced on a set-piece, he forced Real ace Courtois to a strong save (2nd minute). But the Whites quickly came up, Mbappé reported the Blancos, who were dressed in bright orange this time, directly (4th minute). Rodrygo (11th) and Tchouameni with a header on the goal roof (26th) also created dangerous chances.
Bellingham finds Mbappé
But most of the play went through Mbappé. The former Parisian, who has been criticized from time to time at the beginning of the season, generally looked very keen to play on this Saturday evening, with a penchant for a few tricks – and unsurprisingly became the opener in the 30th minute. After a fine build-up, including a great pass from Bellingham, the 2018 world champion scored clinically – for his 13th La Liga goal in 19 appearances. Or to put it another way: his seventh goal in the last eight league games.
But Mbappé and his teammates had something to reproach themselves for: they only led 1-0 after the highly one-sided first 45 minutes, partly because, despite a lot of possession of the ball and a lack of ideas in the final third, not enough resulted in goals.
Mbappé once again clinical and responsible
The Madrilenians countered in the second half – and took the preliminary decision as early as the 57th minute. The scorer? Of course, the eager Mbappé, who, after a great through ball from Dani Ceballos to Rodrygo, found him and shot from a slightly acute angle into the bottom right corner (57th). Goalkeeper Hein was again powerless. The rest of the game was played calmly and defensively.
In the final phase, Modric finally missed the 3-0 with a good lob, but the goal was scored in another way. During a clearance by Real loanee Martin against Bellingham, the Valladolid professional brought down the Englishman hard. The result, despite the ball being played: VAR intervention, penalty decision and yellow-red for the already booked 20-year-old (90th minute). Mbappé stepped up, converted confidently and scored his first hat-trick in a Real Madrid shirt (90+1).
The most important thing, however, is that because city rivals and pursuers Atlético Madrid only managed a 1-1 draw against Villarreal, the win over the bottom-of-the-league team, who have now not scored a goal against Real in seven league games, saw the gap at the top of the table grow to four points.
