Raphinha scored a hat-trick as Barcelona thrashed Real Valladolid 7-0© X (Twitter)

Spanish champions Real Madrid earned a 3-0 win over Real Valladolid in La Liga on Sunday as Kylian Mbappe made his Santiago Bernabeu bow without finding the net. The French striker played at home for the first time in a Madrid shirt but was largely frustrated by Valladolid’s defence. Madrid midfielder Fede Valverde opened the scoring with a low deflected free-kick after 50 minutes and substitutes Brahim Diaz and debutant Endrick struck late on.

Madrid created little in the first half but did enough after the break to earn their first win of the season, following an opening draw at Real Mallorca.

Still lacking fluency in attack, Carlo Ancelotti’s side stayed two points behind rivals Barcelona, who beat Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.

Ancelotti brought in Arda Guler for the injured Jude Bellingham, expected to miss a month with a calf problem.

Real Valladolid were the only team in the division to keep a clean sheet in their opening fixture and from the start they set out to frustrate the champions.

Darwin Machis had a deflected effort whistle narrowly wide but otherwise it was all hands to the pump in defence for the visitors.

Aurelien Tchouameni fired over from long range as Madrid dominated possession without threatening in the Spanish capital’s summer heat.

Madrid came out with more bite in the second half and soon took the lead.

Valverde smashed home a vicious low free-kick with the help of a deflection to break the deadlock.

Madrid should have doubled their lead but Rodrygo misplaced his pass with Vinicius waiting in the middle ready to score.

Mbappe blew a golden opportunity to get off the mark when Vinicius cut the ball across to him, but Estonian goalkeeper Karl Hein saved well.

The France captain had another chance on the counter-attack but fired well wide before being replaced by 18-year-old Brazilian forward Endrick.

Mbappe made his dream switch to Madrid this summer at the end of his Paris Saint-Germain contract after years of links. He scored on his debut in a UEFA Super Cup triumph.

In La Liga, Mbappe has failed to score in his opening two matches as Ancelotti works on perfecting his set-up to get the best from the club’s attacking stars.

Diaz secured Madrid’s win with a neat lobbed finish after running on to a long ball from defender Eder Militao in the 88th minute.

In stoppage time the Spanish playmaker teed up Endrick who drilled home at the near post to celebrate his first appearance for the club in style.

Later Sunday Atletico Madrid host last season’s surprise package Girona among other fixtures.

Kylian Mbappe‘s La Liga debut for Real Madrid did not go as planned as Los Blancos drew at Mallorca last weekend, with coach Carlo Ancelotti believing the Spanish champions lacked “balance”. The French superstar striker will make his first home appearance for Los Blancos at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday against promoted side Real Valladolid, owned by former Madrid forward and Brazil great Ronaldo.

Mbappe is on course to enjoy a similarly sizable legacy in football, but is hoping to make a far greater impact at Madrid than Ronaldo was able to, during the club’s ‘galactico’ era.

Ronaldo won just one La Liga title and failed to lift the Champions League during five seasons in the Spanish capital between 2002-07.

One of the biggest problems during that period was a top-heavy side which boasted several superstar attackers but lost lynchpin Claude Makelele.

Ancelotti has lined up with Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo Goes and Jude Bellingham in the 2-0 UEFA Super Cup win over Atalanta and the 1-1 Mallorca draw, but criticised his team’s balance after both matches

“We just had to do better, with more attitude, you can learn from these games – it’s clear where the problem is,” Ancelotti told reporters last week.

“We need to defend better, we need more balance.”

One issue for Madrid is that Mbappe, Vinicius and Rodrygo all prefer to be shifted towards the left flank.

Another is that by playing all three forwards, Bellingham is pushed back into a midfield role, when it seems after last season’s superb debut campaign where he helped Madrid win La Liga and the Champions League, he is most content contributing in attacking areas.

“(Balance) is found by all players thinking the same thing – when it comes to getting the ball back we all have to think about it together,” continued the Italian coach.

“It’s a team problem that they didn’t understand was a key aspect in this game, Mallorca played a great game in a defensive sense, better than us.”

While visitors Real Valladolid, who beat fellow promoted side Espanyol in their first match, do not pose too much threat to Madrid on paper, the sooner Ancelotti can get his team firing on all cylinders the happier he will be.

After years of links to Madrid, Mbappe completed his dream move this summer at the end of his Paris Saint-Germain contract.

The forward clinically struck against Atalanta in Warsaw but was shut out by Mallorca and their goalkeeper Dominik Greif.

Mbappe will hope to mark his first Bernabeu appearance for Madrid with a goal, weeks after he was greeted there by over 80,000 fans at his presentation.

Once Madrid’s forwards are on song, they will be difficult for any side to stop.

“When I saw them running towards me, I just prayed to God and asked myself — ‘what am I doing here?'” admitted Mallorca defender Pablo Maffeo.

Madrid’s remarkable firepower could prove a double-edged sword with teams rising to the challenge of stopping the attacking quartet dubbed the “fantastic four”.

“We’re going to face the best team in the world, with one of the best coaches in history and the best attack in the world today,” said Valladolid coach Paulo Pezzolano.

“We know what we’re going to face, but we’re going there convinced that we’re going to compete and bring something back home, knowing that it’s difficult, but that we can do it.”

Player to watch: Julian Alvarez

The former Manchester City striker made his Atletico debut as a substitute at Villarreal in their opening fixture but could be given a bigger role against Girona on Sunday as he makes his first appearance at the Metropolitano stadium for Diego Simeone’s new-look Rojiblancos.

Key stats

0 – Real Valladolid were the only team in La Liga not to concede a goal in the opening round of fixtures

2 – With a brace against Valencia, Robert Lewandowski is the division’s top scorer

17 – French players appeared in week one, the most represented nationality behind 285 Spaniards

Fixtures

Friday (all times GMT)

Celta Vigo v Valencia (1700), Sevilla v Villarreal (1930)

Saturday

Osasuna v Real Malloca (1500), Barcelona v Athletic Bilbao (1700), Espanyol v Real Sociedad, Getafe v Rayo Vallecano (both 1930)

Sunday

Real Madrid v Real Valladolid (1500), Leganes v Las Palmas (1700), Alaves v Real Betis (1715), Atletico Madrid v Girona (1930)