The reigning La Liga champions, Real Madrid began their Spanish League title defence against a resilient RCD Mallorca side with a 1-1 draw at Estadi Mallorca Son Moix on Sunday evening. During the closing moments of the game, Los Blancos star left-back, Ferland Mendy was shown a direct red card by the referee due to his reckless challenge on Vedat Muriqi to stop the host’s counter-attacking opportunity in the 97th minute.
As per the Spanish outlet, Cadena SER reports, the French defender quickly learned the magnitude of his tackle and immediately went to Mallorca’s attacker Muriqi to offer his apology for the incident. As a result, the match officials are pleased with the gesture of the 29-year-old defender and have noted the act of Mendy, which could help him reduce the suspension term.
Ferland Mendy to Miss Valladolid clash Amid Real Madrid’s Sluggish League start
Notably, Real Madrid have failed to secure victory in their opening La Liga fixture for the first time in six years under Carlo Ancelloti. Meanwhile, their arch-rivals Barcelona have opened their accounts with a win, raising early alarms for the Los Blancos title defence campaign. On the other hand, Ancelloti would be without his key left-back Ferland Mendy in the next game as he is set to serve his one-game suspension following a Red Card-worthy tackle on Mallorca’s goal scorer.
For the Spanish Champions, Rodrygo opened the scoring early in the 13th minute to give the visitors an edge in the first half. However, in the latter half, the Kosovan International, Vedat Muriqi’s towering header levelled the scoreline upsetting the team from capital city with their set-piece brilliance, thus salvaged a point.