'Clear where the problem is' - Carlo Ancelotti makes Real Madrid 'balance' admission after seeing Kylian Mbappe fall flat on La Liga debut against Mallorca

The France international forward has become the latest ‘Galactico’ addition at Santiago Bernabeu following his arrival from Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent. Mbappe already has a trophy to his name for Los Blancos, with the 25-year-old opening his goal account in a UEFA Super Cup win over Atalanta.

He failed to find a spark when making his La Liga bow, with Rodrygo netting Real’s goal in a disappointing 1-1 draw with Mallorca. Ancelotti told reporters afterwards of what went wrong for his reigning Spanish champions: “Last year I was happy with some draws, but not today. We could have done much better. I don’t want to make excuses. We just had to do better, with more attitude. You can learn from these games. It’s clear where the problem is. We started the game well, but it wasn’t a good game. We need to defend better. We need more balance. We’ve said it before, we’re very offensive and balance is essential.”

Questions have been asked of where Mbappe should be slotted into a system that sees Ballon d’Or hopeful Vinicius Junior operate on the left wing. The World Cup winner is being deployed as a central striker, but still drifted out to the flanks against Mallorca.

Ancelotti added on giving Mbappe freedom to roam, as long as everybody does their bit for the collective cause: “They [the forwards] swap positions sometimes. Sometimes one or the other occupies the position, depending on how they are doing. The problem is that the team was too open. We have to concentrate more, as we usually do. It’s not a physical or mental problem.

“When we win the ball back, we all have to think about it together. You can think that it is a problem for the forwards, but it could be a problem for the defence, or for the midfielders. It is not a problem for one, two or three. It is a problem for a team that in this match did not understand that it was a key aspect. Mallorca played a great game defensively. The draw is correct.”

Real Madrid, who were reduced to 10 men after seeing Ferland Mendy sent off late on in their frustrating stalemate at Mallorca, will be back in action next weekend when returning to home soil for a meeting with Real Valladolid.