Real Madrid player Kylian Mbappe gave tennis great Rafael Nadal his shirt when they met at Son Moix Stadium after the Mallorca game.
It didn’t go as planned for Kylian Mbappe, the captain of France when he made his La Liga debut on Monday. This season, Mbappe joined his dream team, but he didn’t make a big impression on his first game in the Spanish league. Real Madrid started their title defense with a 1-1 draw against RCD Mallorca.
Mbappe scored in his first game for Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup final, which helped his team win the trophy 2-0. But on his first game in the league, he looked off and didn’t make any chances.
After the game, Mbappe met Rafael Nadal at the Son Moix Stadium. Nadal is a famous tennis player and a big fan of Real Madrid. When they met in the hallway and hugged, the French forward gave him his Real Madrid shirt. Nadal, who has won 22 grand slams, often comes to the stadium to cheer on his favorite team, Real Madrid. He wasn’t happy with how the team played, but he thought that getting a gift from Mbappe on his league start would make up for it.
Rodrygo scored the first goal for Madrid in the 13th minute. Inside Mallorca’s box, Jude Bellingham started the move and passed the ball to Mbappe. Mbappe failed to find the opening and left the ball for Vinicius Jr., who passed it to Rodrygo, who cut inside to score the goal. But in the 53rd minute, Vedat Muriqi scored for the home team to tie the game.
Carlo Ancelotti, the coach of Madrid, started with the same team that beat Atalanta. In attack, Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior, and Mbappé were all there.
Ancelotti said of Vinicius and Mbappé, “They switch places every once in a while.”
It’s not always planned, but Mbappé plays more centrally and one of the two has to play on this side. It relies on how they feel.”
In the last few seconds of the second half, Ferland Mendy was sent off for a hard hit on Muriqi.
There’s nothing I want to say as an excuse; we just need to do better and have a better approach. This game can teach us a lot. He said, “It’s pretty clear where our problems could come from.”