No need to panic over Real Madrid's poor start to the La Liga season | OneFootball

Despite Real Madrid's poor start to the 2024/25 La Liga season on Sunday night, Madridistas should still have faith in Carlo Ancelotti's squad to defend their Spanish crown.

The expectations for Real Madrid ahead of the 2024/25 season were always going to be high, especially after their success last year in the Champions League and La Liga, but the addition of Kylian Mbappe raised the stakes tenfold.

With so much talent on the pitch (and the bench), Carlo Ancelotti's squad entered as the favorites to win La Liga this season, and faced an early test in their title defense against Mallorca on Sunday, Aug. 18. Even with Mbappe up top with Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo, Los Blancos could only score one goal, and returned to Madrid with one point after a disappointing 1-1 draw.

Inevitably, Real Madrid's poor start to the season drew plenty of criticism, even from Ancelotti himself, but there are still plenty of reasons not to panic after just one lackluster performance.

No need to panic over Real Madrid's poor start to the La Liga season

Real Madrid are still unbeaten in La Liga over the last year

Real Madrid are unbeaten in their last 33 La Liga matches. / OSCAR DEL POZO/GettyImages

Despite Real Madrid's ugly draw against Mallorca, a team that finished 15th in La Liga last season, Los Blancos are still unbeaten in their last 33 La Liga matches, the third longest streak of all time.

In fact, their last La Liga loss came in September of last year against Atletico Madrid, and Ancelotti's squad drew similar criticism to what they are facing now. The team bounced back from the poor result, though, and went on to win La Liga by ten points.

Mallorca's disciplined low block was a learning experience

RCD Mallorca v Real Madrid CF - La Liga EA Sports / Rafa Babot/GettyImages

Ancelotti's new attacking trio of Vinicius Jr., Kylian Mbappe, and Rodrygo are still finding their chemistry together, and will take a lot from their inability to penetrate Mallorca's low block.

Plenty of La Liga teams will sit back against Real Madrid in the hopes of walking away with at least a point, and the players in white must adapt and create better chances in the final third when opposing teams park ten players in the box.

Los Blancos' match against Mallorca showed the team exactly what does not work, and now, moving forward, they have all the tools they need to make changes to their approach.

The same XI won the UEFA Super Cup just four days prior

Real Madrid defeated Atalanta to win the UEFA Super Cup. / SERGEI GAPON/GettyImages

In a much more open game against Atalanta, Ancelotti's starting XI looked great in the UEFA Super Cup and left Poland with a 2-0 victory over the reigning Europa League champions.

Four days later, the same lineup started against Mallorca. Of course, the best players in the world must be able to play under such a quick turnaround, but half of Real Madrid's squad only arrived in training days before the UEFA Super Cup after representing their countries this summer at Euro 2024 and Copa America 2024.

As the squad works their way back to full match fitness after their short summer break, a tiring, frustrating game like the one they played on Sunday will, ideally, not unfold as poorly, and the preferred XI will deliver a performance similar to the one against Atalanta.