Real Madrid Held to 1-1 Draw by Resilient Mallorca in LaLiga Opener

Real Madrid’s quest to defend their LaLiga title stumbled at the first hurdle as they were held to a 1-1 draw by a determined RCD Mallorca at the Estadi Mallorca San Moix. Despite extending their unbeaten run across all competitions to 28 matches and securing the UEFA Super Cup earlier this month, Los Blancos were unable to start their domestic campaign with a win.

Rodrygo opened the scoring for Madrid in the 14th minute with a superb curled effort after a clever backheel assist from Vinícius Júnior. However, Mallorca responded early in the second half when Vedat Muriqi powered home a header from Dani Rodríguez’s corner to level the match.

Kylian Mbappé, making his LaLiga debut for Madrid, came close to restoring their lead, but Mallorca’s goalkeeper Dominik Greif produced a series of saves to keep the scoreline even. The visitors pressed for a winner, but their efforts were thwarted, and their evening took a further hit when Ferland Mendy received a late red card for a reckless challenge on Muriqi.

The draw sees Carlo Ancelotti's side drop points in their opening fixture, a result that will likely frustrate the Italian manager, while Jagoba Arrasate will be pleased with a hard-earned point in his first match as Mallorca’s head coach. Madrid will need to quickly regroup as they aim to avoid further setbacks in their title defense.