Real Madrid picked up a comfortable 4-1 victory away to UD Levante on Tuesday night in order to maintain their perfect record in La Liga, winning all six games of their opening matches.
Vinicius junior opened the scoring with a Modric-esque trivela shot which will give him a much needed confidence boost after a couple of shaky games from him. Kylian Mbappe also scored a brace within two minutes which takes his goals tally in the league to seven goals in six games.
The scorer of the third goal for Madrid was young Argentine winger Franco Mastantuano who scored his maiden goal for his new club. Mastantuano recieved the ball from Vinicius from a counter attack initiated by Alvaro Carreras and the youngster decided to go all alone and unleashed a brilliant shot into the top right corner which elated the visiting fans.
The 18-year-old was brought in from River Plate during the summer transfer window for a fee of €45 million and has impressed manager Xabi Alonso from the word go.
In the absence of Jude Bellingham, Mastantuano got to start a number of games till now but as the young Englishman is getting near full fitness, the Argentine might see him getting benched in the upcoming games as he will have to compete for a spot against Arda Guler who has been a undisputed starter for Madrid this season.
Real Madrid youngster in awe of Jude Bellingham’s ‘presence and authority’
After the game against Levante, Mastantuano talked about his goal saying “Well, I missed a lot today too, but luckily it came. To be honest, I was expecting it.” He also added, “It wasn’t the main thing on my mind, but it was a step towards gaining confidence and establishing myself in this team, which is getting better and better. I’m really happy that this goal has come.”
The Argentine was also asked wether Jude Bellingham’s return to fitness would complicate things for him or not, to which Mastantuano replied, “Incredible player! If we can play with twelve, even better!”
He also praised the Englishman saying, “He has a presence and a level of authority I’ve never seen before. His calmness and determination make him a different kind of player.”
Even with Bellingham coming back to full fitness, Alonso’s squad rotation will surely see Mastantuano getting his chances and with his talent and maturity at such young age he is expected to only move up the pecking order from here.