Real Madrid vs. Mallorca result: Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo individual brilliance propel Los Blancos in second half

Kyle Bonn

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Dom Farrell

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Real Madrid vs. Mallorca result: Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo individual brilliance propel Los Blancos in second half image

Real Madrid were far from perfect at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday, but Los Blancos were propelled to victory by moments of individual brilliance, beating Mallorca 4-1 thanks to glittering moments from Federico Valverde, Vinicius Jr, and Rodrygo.

While Mallorca striker Muriqui converted Lee Kang-In's free-kick just past the half-hour to shock the La Liga leaders, Valverde's stunner just before halftime levelled the score at the break and provided some respite from an otherwise drab first half. Then, after the interval, the pair of Brazilian youngsters took command of the match.

The two combined to put Carlo Ancelotti's side in front, with Rodrygo weaving through the Mallorca midfield and laying on Vinicius for the finish in the 72nd minute.

Rodrygo would get a goal of his own, an absolutely stunning display of individual skill to carve open the Mallorca defense and deposit the ball past a helpless Pedrag Radjkovic.

The introduction of Luka Modric on the hour mark was critical to the match as well, as Dani Ceballos was a hard worker after earning the start, but just doesn't provide the same combination of on-ball calm and incisive passing.

Antonio Rudiger completed the scoring from Toni Kroos' stoppage-time set piece.

Sporting News followed the Real Madrid vs. Mallorca match live and provided live score updates and commentary.

MORE: Karim Benzema injury update: How many matches will Real Madrid captain miss?

Real Madrid vs. Mallorca final score

  1H 2H Final
Real Madrid 1 3 4
Mallorca 1 0 1

Goals:
35th min — MAL — Muriqui
45+2 min — RMA — Federico Valverde
72nd min — RMA — Vinicius Jr.
89th min — RMA — Rodrygo
90+2 min — RMA — Antonio Rudiger

Real Madrid vs. Mallorca post-match analysis

Rodrygo and Vinicius star in Benzema's absence

While Eden Hazard was tasked with replacing the injured Karim Benzema from the start, he did not provide the influence  Ancelotti will have hoped for. Instead, it was the young Brazilian pair of Vinicius and Rodrygo that rose above the rest.

Rodrygo was the star of the show, providing all the hard work on Vinicius's goal before making magic of his own to score himself. It was a glittering performance, one that will give World Cup favorites Brazil an additional boost ahead of this winter's tournament in Qatar. The talent on that national team is almost unfathomable.

Luka Modric remains a game-changing player

Throughout the first half and early second half, Ceballos did his best to pull the strings for the Real Madrid attack, hurling himself at the Mallorca low block, hoping to provide a way through. It just would not happen, and while he officially picked up an assist on Valverde's opener just before the break, the reality was he delivered a small lateral ball inside his own half before Valverde ran the length of the field and provided the finish.

Modric's introduction on the hour for Ceballos changed the game, as the 37-year-old Croatian calmed Madrid and spurred them to victory. Modric continues to prove he's irreplaceable in the Madrid midfield despite his advancing years and Ancelotti will know the task to eventually replace his maestro will be a tall one indeed.

Real Madrid vs. Mallorca live updates, highlights from LaLiga

FULL-TIME: Real Madrid 4-1 Mallorca

Mallorca were up to the task at the Bernabeu through the first 45 minutes, but couldn't hang on as moments of sheer individual brilliance from Federico Valverde, Vinicius Jr, and Rodrygo were enough to propel Real Madrid to all three points today.

The hosts struggled through the first hour with the low Mallorca block, conceding on a set-piece for the game's opening goal, but the introduction of Aurelien Tchouameni and Luka Modric changed the game, as the latter managed to force Mallorca into opening up. Vinicius and Rodrygo carved the Mallorca defense to shreds in the second half, seeing Real Madrid come away with all three points.

90+2 min: GOAL! REAL MADRID! Antonio Rudiger has the ball in the back of the net for his debut Real Madrid goal, rifling in at the far post off a free-kick. Replay appears to show he's well offside on the delivery from Toni Kroos, but the goal is given on the stroke of full-time. The hosts are putting on a show down the stretch.

89th min: GOAL! REAL MADRID! WHAT a stunner from Rodrygo!! The Brazilian says anything my countrymate Vinicius can do, I can do too. He takes the ball by the midway line, and an incredible bit of skill sends both Nastasic and Raillo for a hot dog. Then it's just the finish, which is elementary by that point. An unreal cherry on top of this match for Real Madrid at home.

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84th min: Vinicius has spent more time on the ground than on his feet over the last five minutes. He got into a few tussles with Raillo on a Mallorca corner, before Maffeo clattered him on the touchline. He's certainly fouled, but they're a bit soft, and it's getting under the Mallorca skin. He's then hacked near the corner flag, and leaps to his feet and roars to the Bernabeu crowd.

81st min: Alaba earns a yellow for stopping a Mallorca counter-attack by blocking off Grenier. There's a bit of extra-curricular activity between the Real Madrid man and Maffeo.

79th min: Muriqui is struggling with either fatigue or an injury, and has to come off for Mallorca. They also bring off fellow attacker Kang-In Lee, with Abdon Prats and Junior Lago on in a full attacking reshuffle.

72nd min: GOAL! REAL MADRID! After a long break for Carvajal to get ready, Madrid go in front off the restart. Luka Modric finds Rodrygo in midfield, and the Brazilian dodges and weaves through the heart of the Mallorca mid block. He cuts to Vinicius Jr. in the penalty area who provides the finishing touch, and Madrid are finally able to go in front. It hasn't been the best performance from Los Blancos, but they don't need to be at their best to produce moments of brilliance like that.

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69th min: Dani Ceballos is finished for the afternoon, and Edouard Camavinga comes on in his place. It's usually a change that Ancelotti makes to protect a lead, but in this case, it's meant to inspire a comeback. Lucas Vazquez also comes off, with an apparently injury problem, replaced by Dani Carvajal who has to get ready in a hurry. He didn't even have his boots on!

Carlo Ancelotti also gets a telling off from the official, which is a rare occurrence. He's apparently upset by a tackle on Vinicius in the penalty area that was waved away minutes earlier.

64th min: Chance, Mallorca! Off a throw-in, Mallorca completely unlocks the Madrid defense and should have gone in front! Juame Costa is the one to come close, thanks to the cut-back from fellow substitute Clement Grenier, but he scuffed the shot and it goes well wide. He should have scored!

61st min: Chance, Real Madrid! Lucas Vazquez comes VERY close to a stunner of his own. Off a short corner, Valverde works a long-distance shot from head on, and he misses by mere inches from the top-right corner of the goal mouth.

58th min: As the second half plods along, both sides make changes. Real Madrid bring on Aurelien Tchouameni, Nacho and Luka Modric, in place of Dani Rodriguez, Ferland Mendy and Eden Hazard. That will push Rodrygo into the striker position, with Valverde up into the wing. David Alaba slides over to full-back with Nacho's introduction.

53rd min: Battaglia appears to be struggling with an injury, and the game stops so the Argentine can receive treatment. He cannot continue, and a substitution is made, with Iddrisu Baba coming on in place of Battaglia.

51st min: More of the same so far from Madrid as they appear somewhat toothless against the Mallorca low block. There's a lack of creativity as Ceballos is struggling to pull the strings. Mallorca seem comfortable to deal with whatever Madrid throw at them.

46th min: We're under way for the second half. Carlo Ancelotti seems to be preparing a change, as Luka Modric is warming up in earnest, but he's not quite on just yet.

HALFTIME: Real Madrid 1-1 Mallorca

A frustrating first half for Real Madrid ends with a bang, and they're back level. Throughout the first half, without Karim Benzema, Real Madrid were locked down quite well, reduced to one good chance by Rodrygo and a bunch more speculative shots from distance.

A moment of defensive failure saw Mallorca find the opener via Muriqui on a corner, and then Valverde put the Bernabeu on his shoulders on the stroke of halftime. All in all, a level scoreline is probably fair on the run of play so far. Madrid still with work to do to unlock this Mallorca defense again and find a winner.

45+2 min: GOAL, REAL MADRID! It's a STUNNING solo goal from Federico Valverde on the stroke of halftime! He goes solo and produces the equalizer just before the break.

Halfway through the four added minutes, Valverde takes the ball midway through his own half, and goes himself three-quarters the length of the field. Weaving through midfielders, he cuts onto his left at the top of the penalty area, unchallenged, and rifles a laser beam into the top-left corner. It's the last kick of the first half, and changes the halftime team talk for Carlo Ancelotti for sure.

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44th min: Chance, Real Madrid! What an effort by Vinicius from deep! The Brazilian has a go from a ways out, and he comes much closer than many would have expected, aiming for the top-right corner with a blistering shot and missing by just inches.

Moments later, Eden Hazard goes down in the 18-yard-box under heavy defensive pressure from Battaglia. The Bernabeu has a shout, but the Madrid players don't react with much of a shout.

39th min: The referee has to intervene as Raillo takes down Vinicius in the penalty area, and the Mallorca defender is shown a yellow card. Not for the foul, which isn't given — correctly, as it's a soft one — but for his reaction, up in Vini's face for a perceived dive.

Then moments later Raillo takes one on the chin from Hazard's elbow, but the replay shows the Mallorca man goes to ground softly, exactly what he was upset with Vinicius with moments earlier.

35th min: Another yellow is given, this time to Federico Valverde. It's turned over and Mallorca breaks through Maffeo down the right. The Real Madrid winger tracks back and seemed to be following with pace, but lunges in with a late challenge and cuts Maffeo to the ground. The free-kick comes in, and...

GOAL! MALLORCA! It's an utterly glorious delivery from Kang-In Lee, and it finds the head of Muriqui at the far post who drifts back away from his marker, Ferland Mendy. It results in a free header, and Muriqui buries it. A shocking opener at the Bernabeu!

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Just to add insult to injury to Mendy, they show a VAR review to check for offside, and Mendy is playing Muriqui on as he awkwardly stumbles backwards. It's a below standard showing from the Madrid full-back on the play, and Los Blancos are punished.

33rd min: A healthy break comes to an end as Battaglia recovers. He receives treatment, and looks to be ok, although it looked concerning for a moment. The teams both have a drinks break during the layoff.

29th min: Ouch! Valverde cuts one back to Ceballos on the edge of the box. The Madrid midfielder catches the shot sweetly - too sweetly for Battaglia, who takes one to the head to block the shot. He'll have some treatment while everyone else grabs a drink near the dugouts.

27th min: Rodrygo looks the man most likely to unlock Mallorca at the moment. Kroos flights a pass into the area, which the scampering Valverde nods down. Rodrygo is onto it like a flash, only to shoot too close to Rajkovic. But Madrid need more of that and less of the speculative long-range stuff they've been dealing in so far.

25th min: That's a glimpse of the problem Mallorca might pose on the break and Mendy was keen not to see any more. He's booked for bringing down Maffeo before the wingback could cause any significant trouble.

20th min: Eden Hazard has a shot from range, and it's a decent effort but doesn't trouble the Mallorca net. Then, Rodrygo snaffles possession on halfway and drives towards a backpedalling Mallorca backline. He can't find the finish to match his impressive work and blazes over from outside the box.

17th min: Nastasic is the first player booked this afternoon after flying in late to take own Vazquez as he got a shot away. Kroos sends the resulting free-kick into the wall.

14th min: Some lovely link-up play form Ancelotti's men sees Hazard backheel the ball to Kroos 25 yards from goal. The midfielder curls a trademark effort just wide.

10th min: Vinicius gets away down the left, leaving Maffeo and Valjent in his wake. The Brazil winger's touch lets him down when he gets into the box, though, and Rajkovic is out to smother the ball.

5th min: Along with that Muriqi chance, the massed ranks of Mallorca players between the ball and their goal are also setting the tone as expected. Aguirre's men will lurk in that defensive shell but with a willingness to try and hit Madrid on the counter.

2nd min: An early opening for the visitors. Courtois parried sharply to deny Muriqi, who latched on to Maffeo's raking pass.

1st min: We're underway in Real Madrid vs. Real Mallorca!

10 mins from kickoff: The teams are done with their warmups and we're not far away now at an expectant Santiago Bernabeu.

40 mins from kickoff: Hazard might be the direct replacement but much of the Benzema goalscoring burden will fall to Vinicius Jr. Handily for Ancelotti, the in-form winger seems more than ready to pick up the load. Vinicius has found the next in each of Madrid's past four games in all competitions.

1 hour from kickoff: There is a slight surprise in the Mallorca XI. Javier Aguirre sticks with his expected 5-3-2 for this Santiago Bernabeu assignment but there is a start in midfield for Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta, who has so far been restricted to a grand total of three minutes in two LaLiga substitute cameos this term.

1 hr 20 mins from kickoff: Here's the Madrid starting line-up, with Hazard up front as expected. Dani Ceballos gets a first start of the season in midfield.

1 hr 40 mins from kickoff: So, can Real Madrid stay perfect in their title defence? They will, of course, have to do so without the injured Karim Benzema and lack a specialist striker in his absence. Eden Hazard played well and scored when introduced against Celtic in midweek and opportunity knocks for the Belgium star who has had a tough time since making his dream move to Madrid from Chelsea in 2019. Even so, it is hard to deny that for a club of their stature, Los Blancos look a little light in attack when Benzema is out of the picture.

2 hours from kickoff: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of Real Madrid vs. Real Mallorca in La Liga. And don't tell Carlo Ancelotti who's tired and who's not. He knows.

Real Madrid vs. Mallorca lineups & team news

While it's hoped Benzema could return from his thigh injury in time for the Madrid derby next Sunday, it will be Hazard replacing him against Mallorca as he did in midweek vs. Celtic, earning praise from Carlo Ancelotti, who called it "a perfect game" for the Belgian. He will suit up from the start against Mallorca, deployed as a false nine, or "a bit deeper" as Ancelotti put it.

In midfield, Aurelien Tchouameni and Luka Modric take a breather among the substitutes, with Dani Ceballos handed his first start of the season alongside Federico Valverde and Toni Kroos.

Meanwhile at the back, given a thigh injury will rule out Eder Militao, it will be David Alaba, and Antonio Rudiger teaming up at center-back. Right-back Alvaro Odriozola (calf) is the other injury absence. 

Real Madrid starting lineup (4-3-3): Courtois (GK) — Vazquez, Rudiger, Alaba, Mendy— Ceballos, Valverde, Kroos — Rodrygo, Hazard, Vinicius Jr.

Mallorca manager Javier Aguirre has kept his starting lineup mostly consistent through the start of the La Liga season.

Last match, Aguirre made just one change, sending starting midfielder Clement Grenier to the bench for Antonio Sanchez. Grenier had picked up a yellow card in each of the team's first three matches, meaning his use moving forward comes with risk. Both are among the substitutes today as Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta makes his first start of the campaign.

Forward Kang-in Lee, a 21-year-old World Cup hopeful for South Korea, has been one of the league's best forwards to start the year, owning a goal and two assists through the first four games of the season. He is a dribble machine, second in La Liga with 10 successful take-ons, juts one behind William Carvalho of Real Betis.

Mallorca starting lineup (5-3-2): Rajkovic (GK) — Maffeo, Valjent, Raillo, Copete, Costa — De Galarreta, Rodriguez, Battaglia — Muriqi, Lee.

MORE: Celtic vs. Real Madrid result, highlights and analysis

Real Madrid vs. Mallorca TV channel, live stream

  UK USA Canada Australia
Date Sun, Sept. 11 Sun, Sept. 11 Sun, Sept. 11 Sun, Sept. 11
Time 13:00 BST 08:00 ET 08:00 ET 22:00 AET
TV channel Premier Sports 1,
La Liga TV		  —  —  —
Streaming Premier Player HD ESPN+ TSN Direct,
TSN site/app		 Optus Sport

UK: Sunday's match between Real Madrid and Mallorca from the Bernabeu can be watched on Premier Sports 1 or LaLigaTV, with streaming available via Premier Player.

USA: All La Liga fixtures in the United States are broadcast via ESPN's premium streaming service ESPN+.

Canada: In Canada, La Liga matches are broadcast and streamed by La Liga partner TSN.

Australia: In Australia, La Liga matches are broadcast and streamed by La Liga partner Optus Sport.

Kyle Bonn

Kyle Bonn Photo

Kyle Bonn, is a Syracuse University broadcast journalism graduate with over a decade of experience covering soccer globally. Kyle specializes in soccer tactics and betting, with a degree in data analytics. Kyle also does TV broadcasts for Wake Forest soccer, and has had previous stops with NBC Soccer and IMG College. When not covering the game, he has long enjoyed loyalty to the New York Giants, Yankees, and Fulham. Kyle enjoys playing racquetball and video games when not watching or covering sports.

Dom Farrell

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Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.