Not Mbappe, Alonso praises a Real Madrid star enthusiastically

Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso spoke to the press following the 2-1 win against Mallorca on the morning of August 31st.

Facing a disciplined and sharp counter-attacking Mallorca, Real Madrid conceded the first goal. However, Los Blancos quickly regained confidence and launched dangerous attacks. Notably, Arda Güler scored a valuable goal that helped the royal club regain control and pave the way to victory.

After the match, coach Xabi Alonso admitted it was a tough win: “Whenever we win, we are happy. The game had many unpredictable phases, but the whole team responded well after conceding. Especially in the second half, we were persistent and showed fighting spirit to secure the three points.”

Xabi Alonso highly praised the impressive performance of Alvaro Carreras: "I have been following him for some time and am truly pleased to see him here. Carreras understands the club well and has performed excellently. He does almost everything very well. He is a great addition, both for now and the future."

Alonso also revealed that during the water break, he asked his players to adjust their pressing and second-ball challenges: “They escaped our pressing several times, so we needed to tighten up to prevent them from easily building play.”

On a day when Kylian Mbappe was unlucky in front of goal, Vinicius Jr was the major hope in attack. The Brazilian star scored an important goal and created many breakthroughs. Alonso commented: “He contributed well, played better than in the Osasuna match. That goal was very important. Rodrygo also played a significant role. When we gradually lost control, all the substitutes performed solidly.”

Although Mbappe did not score, Alonso remained calm: “His failure to score does not worry me. Mbappe had many chances and showed great attitude. He was just a bit slow in some situations and slightly off in the final shot. I am confident he will bounce back soon.”

With three wins from three games, Real Madrid enters the international break with a perfect 9 points. Alonso believes this is a positive preparation: “We lacked some experience during preseason, but now the team has improved a lot. These results show we are on the right track. Of course, there are still areas to fix ahead of the Champions League.”