MADRID - Kylian Mbappe makes his long-awaited home debut for Real Madrid on Sunday when his new club entertain Valladolid in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
Valladolid returned to the Spanish top-flight this season after a campaign in the second division, but kicked off their return with three points as they won on their opening day at home to Espanyol.
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Now they have to face an attack that doesn't just contain Mbappe, but also Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo, who scored his side's goal in their 1-1 draw away to Mallorca last week.
The result in Madrid's first game came as a surprise to many, but Mallorca were good value against a rival that without retired Toni Kroos and injured Eduardo Camavinga, struggled to control the ball in midfield.
"We have worked on what didn't work so well in Mallorca, we understand what happened there and we have tried to work on it this week."
"We lacked balance and we have to work on that, but finding the solution isn't so complicated. When you can see the problem, you can resolve it," commented Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti in his pre-game press conference on Friday.
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Real Madrid suffered another injury setback on Friday, with Jude Bellingham pulling the plantaris muscle in his right leg - an issue that will sideline him for around a month.
Bellingham's injury is without doubt a problem for Ancelotti, but is perhaps not as much a setback as it could be: the England international tends to operate towards the left of attack and midfield, which is territory that Mbappe and Vinicius Jr also like to occupy.
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His injury will open the door for either Arda Guler or Brahim Diaz to come into the side, with both more comfortable in a central role and also capable of scoring important goals. Indeed, the options Ancelotti has available only serve to highlight the attacking options at his disposal.
One issue on Sunday is that the game is scheduled to be played at 5pm local time with temperatures of 33 or 34 degrees centigrade forecast for Madrid.
With very little wind at pitch level, that means conditions for players will be far from ideal.
