MADRID — Real Madrid continued their 100% start to the season with a come-from-behind victory at home to Mallorca.
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The visitors shocked the LaLiga and European champions by taking the lead in the 35th minute through Vedat Muriqi, but they couldn’t hold on to the advantage until the interval as Federico Valverde scored a brilliant equaliser in the third minute of stoppage time.
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Vinicius Junior put Carlo Ancelotti’s men in front in the 72nd minute, and the flattering 4-1 victory was sealed in the final moments with goals from Rodrygo and Antonio Rudiger.
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Rapid reaction
1. Valverde is Madrid’s unsung midfield hero
He might not get as much attention and praise as Luka Modric, Toni Kroos or — more recently — new addition Aurelien Tchouameni, but Valverde is an increasingly important and influential member of this Real Madrid team.
Valverde has always offered a no-nonsense, ego-free attitude and tireless workrate, but now he’s adding consistent end product to his game too. Just look at his contributions over the last few weeks.
Here, with Madrid 1-0 down and finding it difficult to break through Mallorca’s five-man backline and deep defensive block, Valverde took matters into his own hands, cutting inside and blasting a shot past goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic to level before half-time.
