Weekend football: Sterner tests will come for Mbappe, Real
After early growing pains trying to integrate Kylian Mbappe, things have started to click a bit for Real Madrid. This coming weekend would have laid out how far they have come, but it will have to wait.
How does one improve a squad that just won the Champions League? Signing one of the world’s best players at his prime as a free agent sounds quite ridiculous, but that is exactly what Real did this summer. It was a no-brainer really. If you can sign someone of Mbappe’s quality, you do it. No need to think twice.
Has it worked out? Well, they are undefeated in their first nine competitive games (W7 D2); individual talent can decide many games and Real have an abundance of it. It has not looked particularly pretty though. Moving Mbappe to center forward permanently – he mostly operated on the left wing for PSG – was always going to take time.
The abundance of talent works against Real here. Mbappe will not be left out, but neither will Vinicius Jr – and although they have different skill sets, the Mbappe of PSG mainly operated in the same areas as Vinicius did for Real. Include the mercurial Jude Bellingham, who does his best work as a left-sided midfielder, and some congestion is unavoidable at first.
Carlo Ancelotti has tinkered with different solutions, green-lighted by the injury to Bellingham, but returned to the trusted 4-3-3 against Alaves on Tuesday. An early goal set the tone, so we never really saw Real pushing too hard. They will have to figure it out on the go, and so far they have. But the challenges will only toughen.
Barcelona have started the season perfectly, and like Real, Atletico are undefeated after six games. Who will come out on top in the Madrid derby and which other games to enjoy over the weekend?
All times listed below are in Eastern European Summer Time (GMT+3).
Bayern Munich – Bayer Leverkusen
Saturday 19:30
Some doubted him, but Vincent Kompany has started brilliantly at Bayern. Six matches, six wins. 29 scored, five conceded. Have Bayern turned a corner after a disastrous campaign last season? It might be too early to say. Bayern were undefeated after three rounds last season and were almost perfect in the Bundesliga until December (10W 2D), but still finished trophyless for the first time in a decade. We will know a lot more come Sunday morning.
A year ago, the two teams first met in the fourth round, with Leverkusen snatching a 2-2 draw at the Allianz Arena via an overtime penalty. Would they have had the confidence to go for greatness without it, the aura of invincibility that (almost) carried them through last season? They have already lost this season (2-3 to Leipzig on MD2) and conceded 9 times in just four Bundesliga games. This already feels like a final.
Manchester United – Tottenham
Sunday 18:30
In a mid-table battle, teams placed tenth and eleventh have a score to settle. Somehow, Old Trafford does not feel like home at the moment: United have lost seven of their last 19 league home games (9W 3D) after going unbeaten in the 20 before (17W 3D). They have also not been good enough at taking chances, as they have the third-highest xG (9.6) in the league but have scored just five goals in five games.
Tottenham was bullied by United for decades, but have not lost in the last three against them (1W 2D). But they have also not been particularly good away from home recently, as they have just one win in their last eight (D2 L5), and are yet to win away from home this season (D1 L1). Heung-min Son, however, has created more chances than any other player in the league this season and has been relatively good against United with four goals and an assist in his last seven head-to-heads.
Atletico Madrid – Real Madrid
Sunday 22:00
Atletico looked good on paper before the season started, but have lacked coherency and already dropped points against Espanyol (0-0) and Rayo Vallecano (1-1). They were actually second-best in the latter. Furthermore, they will have two full days less to prepare, as they play Celta Vigo away late on Thursday. Diego Simeone’s men did win the corresponding fixture vs Real a year ago (3-1).
Kylian Mbappe scored against Alaves on Tuesday, marking his fifth straight scoring game (6 goals in 5 appearances), but then asked to be substituted – although Ancelotti brushed it off at first, later reports confirmed the Frenchman will be out for three weeks. It will be interesting to see how Real approach the game without him. They have started slowly so far: 18 of the 21 goals this season have been scored in the second half.
The Betis Babble
OlyBet is the proud betting partner of Real Betis.
Next game: Thursday 20:00 @ Las Palmas / Sunday 19:30 vs Espanyol
Last weekend, Betis took a 1-0 lead against Mallorca and seemed set to win their third match in a row, yet faltered and lost, leaving Betis eleventh in La Liga. Taking chances was the big problem, with Mallorca punishing them on counter-attacks.
It will be a double-header this week as a trip to the Canary Islands will be followed by a home game. Las Palmas are winless in six (2D 4L) and find themselves bottom of the table while Espanyol are 14th. Betis did earn four points from the corresponding fixture last season (2-2 @ Las Palmas, 3-1 vs Espanyol); that will be the minimum goal this time.
