September 2 – French star Kylian Mbappé has opened his account at Real Madrid with a brace to steer his side to a routine 2-0 victory against Real Betis in La Liga.
Mbappé arrived this summer as the new Galatico of the Bernabeu to complete a forward line that includes Brazilians Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo as well as England star Jude Bellingham. He opened his Madrid account in the Super Cup against Atalanta last month, but it has taken the Frenchman four matches and the encounter with Betis to find the back of the net in the Spanish league.
At half-time, Real were being held by the visitors from Seville but Mbappé delivered victory with two strikes, one assisted by Frederico Valverde and the other converted from the penalty spot.
“The pressure I have is to adapt to the team,” said Mbappé said.
“I’ve scored goals all my career, I’ll score goals for sure. The goals will come. Three games [without scoring] are a lot for me, but it’s OK, I have the confidence of my teammates.
“There’s no pressure, it’s football. I have my quality. I’m here to be Kylian. There’s no pressure. I’m happy, I want to work.”
Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti also downplayed the pressure on his new star and the team after a slow start to the season. He said: “We’ve never put pressure on him to score goals. Kylian had a good game. He was very effective in the area, he took his chances, he worked hard.”
After four match days, Madrid are joint second behind FC Barcelona with eight points. They return to action after the international break with a trip to Real Sociedad.
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