Real Madrid lacked ‘commitment and attitude’ in Mallorca draw

Carlo Ancelotti has criticised his Real Madrid side’s “attitude” and “collective commitment” after the La Liga champions were held to a 1-1 draw by Mallorca in their opening match of the 2024-25 season.

Rodrygo put Real Madrid ahead in the 13th minute at Son Moix – after a move involving Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior – before Vedat Muriqi headed Mallorca level in the second half.

Real Madrid were unable to score a last-gasp winner, with defender Ferland Mendy sent off in stoppage time, leaving coach Ancelotti frustrated.

“In the second half we lacked balance. We lost the counter-attacks and the crosses. It was not a good game. We have to defend better and above all we have to be more balanced on the pitch,” Ancelotti said in the post-match press conference.

“We weren’t happy today. I don’t want to make any excuses. We just had to improve and have more fighting spirit. But we can learn a lot from this game, it was clear we had problems.”

Real Madrid won La Liga last season, 10 points clear of nearest rivals Barcelona, ​​and have since added star striker Kylian Mbappe on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain.

Mbappe played the full 90 minutes against Mallorca and had four shots, two of which were on target, without scoring.

Ancelotti praised Mallorca, who are coached by new manager Jagoba Arrasate, and described the draw as “the right result”.

“The defence was not good, it was difficult for us to recover the ball after losing it. This is the aspect we have to improve, when I talk about defence, I talk about the attitude and the collective commitment,” Ancelotti said.

“The team was very open. We have to concentrate more, as we usually do, with more focus, and be more compact. Some might think the problem is the strikers, but when the strikers press, the midfielders don’t help and the defenders stay back. It’s not about one or the other.”

Real Madrid won their first trophy of the season on Wednesday, beating Atalanta 2-0 to lift the European Super Cup in Warsaw.

In their next La Liga match, Real will host Valladolid on August 25, before visiting Las Palmas four days later.