The Japan Times - Real Madrid overturn Mallorca as Atletico held

Atletico Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw at Alaves, leaving them without a win in their first three La Liga matches.

Arda Guler and Vinicius Junior scored in quick succession for Los Blancos after Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi had opened the scoring at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Xabi Alonso's Madrid also had three more goals ruled out as they continued to improve following the coach's arrival at the start of the summer.

After competing in the Club World Cup and not having much of a pre-season, winning all their games before the first international break is an impressive feat for Alonso.

"With good team spirit we managed to turn the game around," Alonso told Real Madrid TV.

"I'm very happy with this start... We wanted this, we knew we were lacking minutes (under our belt) and some matches."

Alonso brought Vinicius Junior and Trent Alexander-Arnold back into the starting line-up after both began last weekend's win at Real Oviedo on the bench.

Kylian Mbappe, who has started the season in fine form with three league goals, thought he had broken the deadlock early on after a fine pass from Alexander-Arnold but was judged to be offside.

Mallorca took a surprise lead after 18 minutes when Muriqi used his shoulder to divert a corner past Thibaut Courtois.

It was the first goal Madrid had conceded in La Liga this season after two clean sheets in their opening victories.

Alonso's side responded with two goals in under two minutes.

Dean Huijsen headed Alvaro Carreras' cross into the six-yard box for Arda Guler to nod home in the 37th minute.

With Mallorca rocking, Vinicius surged into space, broke into the box and scuffed a finish into the bottom corner.

Mbappe could have extended Madrid's lead before the break but nudged wide from close range and then had a second goal ruled out for offside.

Bright summer signing Franco Mastantuono fired narrowly over early in the second half on the 18-year-old's first Santiago Bernabeu start, during which he showed few nerves.

The Argentine attacker was involved in Madrid's third disallowed goal of the night after some superb footwork in the box, before he forced Roman into a save, and Guler eventually turned home.

However the Turkish playmaker was judged to have handled the ball before striking and the goal was ruled out, upsetting Madrid fans.

Carreras produced a spectacular goal-line clearance to keep out Samu Costa's thumped effort to safety as Mallorca sniffed for an equaliser.

Under Alonso's predecessor Carlo Ancelotti, Madrid were not always able to close games out, but after that scare they showed a good level of control in the final stages to keep Mallorca at arm's length.

"Now we're starting to live the nights we dreamed of here," new Real Madrid signing Carreras told the club's television channel.

"This is a different season, almost without a pre-season, all of us new players who have arrived have to fit in (quickly)."

On Sunday, champions Barcelona visit Rayo Vallecano looking to match Madrid on three wins from three. Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao could also do the same should they beat Celta Vigo and Real Betis respectively.

- More points dropped -

For the third consecutive game, Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid spurned a lead to drop points.

His son Giuliano Simeone sent the team ahead early on but Carlos Vicente levelled from the spot for Alaves.

Atletico overhauled their squad in the summer and the coach said he thinks it will take his team some time to click, with results reflecting that.

"We have to keep working, to trust in my players, we have a team that will do better than what we have been doing," Simeone told Movistar.

Simeone said he was not worried about the results but more his team's performance after a defeat and two draws from three games.

"I'm not looking at the points, the important thing is that the team improves and as a consequence of that, the points will improve too," he added.

Rojiblancos substitute Antoine Griezmann struck the post from close range in the second half but Atletico were unable to break through.

"We have to do better, we have to do more," Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak told Movistar.

"We're angry and it leaves a bad taste in the mouth, we need more points and it's our fault."

H.Nakamura--JT