Real Madrid stay perfect in LaLiga after spirited comeback win over Mallorca

Comeback at the Bernabéu

The first scare of Real Madrid’s LaLiga season arrived early, and it came with a sting. Mallorca led 1-0 at the Bernabéu and looked comfortable enough to make a night of it. Then, in the space of 60 mad seconds, the league leaders did what they do: turn a problem into a statement. Arda Güler equalised in the 37th minute, Vinícius Júnior pounced in the 38th, and the champions-elect vibe was back on tap.

This 2-1 win keeps Real Madrid perfect through three matches. It also says a bit more than the table does. They conceded for the first time this season, trailed at home, and still handled the turbulence—helped by a restless, noisy crowd that refused to settle for a slog. The visitors were rugged and well-drilled, the officiating drama was constant, and Kylian Mbappé had two finishes scrubbed off. Madrid won anyway.

The night opened with a familiar pattern: Madrid on the ball, probing, and Trent Alexander-Arnold stepping inside to pinch spaces. Back in the XI and fresh off the public jab of being left out of Thomas Tuchel’s England squad, he wasted no time. A slick, early threaded pass put Mbappé through inside five minutes. The net rippled, the Bernabéu roared, and the flag—and later a check—cut that celebration short for offside.

From there, Mallorca’s plan had teeth. They took the sting out of Madrid’s rhythm, dragged the game toward set pieces, and forced Madrid to attack from awkward angles. The opener came the old-fashioned way: a corner, a fight in the six-yard box, and a messy finish. Pablo Torre’s inswinger was vicious; Vedat Muriqi, back from suspension after his red card against Barcelona, outmuscled Aurélien Tchouaméni and deflected the ball in with his back. It was scruffy, but it counted—and it was the first goal Xabi Alonso’s side had shipped this campaign.

Falling behind shook Madrid more than the crowd. Passes went a touch long. Final balls lacked the usual bite. Mbappé kept threatening the shoulder of the last defender but sat on the wrong side of the line too often for the assistants’ liking. Mallorca’s banks stayed tight, the clock ran, and the visitors looked happy to smother and spring.

Madrid needed a spark. It arrived via Güler, who played as if none of the tension applied to him. His equaliser was clean and calm, a finish that cut through the noise. In the very next minute, Vinícius flipped the match. He attacked the space, took a brave first touch with a defender crowding him, and found the only corner available. In two moments, Madrid went from chasing to controlling.

The drama didn’t stop. Mbappé saw a second effort chalked off, again for offside after a review. Güler thought he had a brace too, only to watch a raised arm and a replay snatch it away. You could argue about the margins—Mallorca certainly did—but the pattern was clear: the lines were tight, the checks were long, and the home side had to do it the hard way.

Alexander-Arnold’s night told its own story. He offered thrust from the right and drifted into central lanes to overload midfield, creating passing lanes and a couple of clever switches that stretched Mallorca’s block. With 17 minutes left, he made way for Dani Carvajal, a change that swapped adventure for security as Madrid managed the final stretch. The Englishman sat, watched, and saw the game-state management his new club has mastered.

Mallorca deserve credit for making it a contest. They were disciplined, particularly after taking the lead. Muriqi fought for every aerial ball, and Torre’s dead-ball delivery asked questions all evening. The plan was to live off set pieces and transitions and to frustrate the hosts by shrinking the pitch. It almost worked, and on another night the tight calls might have fallen their way.

Tactics, talking points, what comes next

Xabi Alonso kept faith in a front line that can burn you from multiple angles. Mbappé’s depth runs stretched the back line, opening pockets for Güler to drift into shooting lanes and for Vinícius to attack the weak side. When Madrid lost shape early, they leaned on Tchouaméni’s recovery work to kill counters before they bloomed. After the break, the tempo settled. Madrid stopped forcing the first pass into feet and started moving Mallorca sideways until the seams showed.

The key hinge was the right flank. With Alexander-Arnold stepping inside, Madrid created a numerical edge around the base of midfield. That invited diagonal switches and occasional underlapping runs that pulled Mallorca’s full-backs into bad choices: track the runner and leave the wing, or stay and concede the half-space. The visitors mostly chose compactness, which kept the scoreline close but left Madrid with repeated, patient entries into the final third.

On the other side, Vinícius’ decision-making was sharp. He mixed carries with quick give-and-go touches instead of taking on every duel. The goal summed it up: timed movement, good body shape, and a finish that didn’t need power, just precision. If Mbappé drew the lines, Vinícius coloured inside them.

Madrid’s defensive structure had one obvious vulnerability: set pieces. Mallorca stacked bodies at the near post, screened Tchouaméni, and attacked the scraps. The opening goal came from that chaos. After halftime, Madrid adjusted, assigning the first contact more aggressively and clearing the zone quicker. It wasn’t pretty, but it stopped the bleeding.

The officiating subplot will linger. Three disallowed goals—two for Mbappé, one for Güler—kept tension high and the crowd on edge. Each call went through a review; each conclusion brought a new wave of gesturing from one bench or the other. The broader take: Madrid kept their shape and composure despite the interruptions, while Mallorca used the stoppages to reset and breathe.

Individual snapshots:

• Arda Güler: Composure matched the moment. Found pockets, played on the half-turn, and delivered the equaliser that settled nerves.
• Vinícius Júnior: Picked his moments rather than forcing them. The winner showcased control and maturity.
• Kylian Mbappé: Dangerous all night, punished by timing more than finishing. The threat he posed bent Mallorca’s back line even without a legal goal.
• Trent Alexander-Arnold: Sharp diagonals and smart interior positioning. Faded a touch before the change, but his early influence helped tilt the pitch.
• Aurélien Tchouaméni: Outfoxed on the set piece for the opener, then grew into the game, screening transitions and breaking lines with tempo passes.

From a season perspective, this win is useful beyond the points. It showed Madrid can win while short of their top gear and can ride out a match heavy on checks, stoppages, and set-piece scrums. That matters in August and September, when legs are still finding rhythm and opponents play with early-season belief.

For Mallorca, the table is a harsh mirror. One point from three doesn’t reflect the structure they showed here. They carried the aerial threat of Muriqi, stayed compact, and limited Madrid’s clean looks for long stretches. The next step is turning these stubborn, narrow defeats into something tangible away from home.

Inside the stadium, the mood swung from anxious to relieved to satisfied. The new season sheen remains, but the first true test of nerve has been filed under “passed.” Alonso won’t love conceding from a set piece, and he’ll have notes about spacing when Alexander-Arnold moves inside. He will love the response, the impact minutes from his bench, and the way leaders on the pitch—Vinícius among them—settled the team at 1-1.

Key beats worth remembering:

• A first conceded goal of the season, answered by two strikes in a minute.
• Three disallowed goals that shaped the rhythm and required composure.
• A right-flank experiment that produced control and chances, even if it cost some defensive balance.
• A reminder that Madrid can close a tight game without chaos once ahead.

The calendar will stack up soon enough, with bigger tests and heavier legs ahead. For now, nine points from nine feels like a clear message: even when the margins are thin and the whistles are frequent, this Madrid has more than one way to win. And that, more than the early table, is what will bother the teams trying to chase them down.