Football: Mbappe set for ‘beautiful’ Bernabeu debut ⁰

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said striker Kylian Mbappe will enjoy a “beautiful day” when he makes his home debut for the Spanish giants on Sunday in La Liga.

Los Blancos face Real Valladolid in their first match at the Santiago Bernabeu this season with supporters clamouring to see the French superstar in action.

Mbappe scored on his debut for Madrid in Warsaw against Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup win but could not find the net in a 1-1 league draw at Mallorca.

“I think it will be a beautiful day for Mbappe, to play at the Bernabeu for the first time in a Real Madrid shirt,” Ancelotti told reporters Friday.

“The fans are very excited about him, and he will have a great game, because of the quality he has — the fans will enjoy themselves.”

Mbappe was linked with Real Madrid for several years while at Paris Saint-Germain and was finally able to make his dream move this summer at the end of his contract in France.

With Mbappe joining Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo Goes and Jude Bellingham in attack, Ancelotti has complained his team have lacked balance in their first two matches.

The coach said Bellingham suffered a knock in training and was being looked at by medical staff ahead of the Valladolid clash.

“We have prepared well for the game on Sunday… we know very well what happened against Mallorca and we have tried to fix it for this weekend,” said Ancelotti.

“I think facing Valladolid will be a good test… we lacked balance at times and we have to work on that.

“It’s not so hard to look for a solution when the problem is clear, there is also a clear solution.”

Vinicius, Mbappe, Rodrygo and to some extent Bellingham prefer to play coming in from the left.

“I won’t tell them we have to play on the other wing when in the last years we’ve won two Champions Leagues playing (from the left),” said Ancelotti.

Madrid lifted a Champions League and La Liga double last season and in 2022 under Ancelotti and after adding Mbappe to their ranks are firm favourites to triumph again in Spain this season.

Source: AFP