Kylian Mbappé's Penalty Miss Shatters Madrid's Perfect Start

Kylian Mbappé’s stoppage-time penalty was supposed to preserve perfection. Instead, it detonated Real Madrid’s perfect start to the La Liga season and lit up Seville in Betis green.

Alvaro Valles guessed right, plunged low, and turned away Mbappé’s effort in the dying seconds at La Cartuja on Friday night, sealing a gritty 1-0 win for Real Betis and handing José Mourinho his first defeat back in charge of Madrid.

Parrott pounces, Madrid punished

Madrid arrived with three wins from three under Mourinho’s second spell, the early-season machine already humming. For long stretches, it looked like a matter of when, not if, they would break Betis.

Vinicius Junior rattled the post in the first half, sliding in to meet an Arda Güler ball whipped across the face of goal. Mbappé repeatedly lurked in the gaps, only to be denied by desperate, committed defending — Natan flung himself in front of one goalbound strike, Marc Bartra did the same with another. Betis bent, but they did not break.

Then the night turned.

With nine minutes left, Nelson Deossa rose to meet a cross and forced Thibaut Courtois into a superb save, the Belgian clawing away the header. The reprieve lasted seconds. The rebound dropped to Troy Parrott, and the Irish forward, still chasing his first goal for Betis, thumped it home. One chance, one finish, and La Cartuja erupted.

Drama, disallowed brilliance, and one last twist

Madrid thought they had found their escape route almost immediately. Carlos Espi acrobatically hooked in a stunning finish from a Vinicius cross, an equaliser that would have been replayed all weekend. The celebrations died quickly. The flag went up, the build-up ruled offside, and Betis clung to their lead.

The pressure rose again. Mbappé, searching for a moment to drag Madrid back, clipped the crossbar with a delicate effort as time bled away. The champions-elect aura felt fragile, but still alive.

Then came Natan’s late, crunching challenge on Vinicius in the box. Penalty. Mbappé on the spot. The script wrote itself.

Valles tore it up. Diving to his side, he beat away the Frenchman’s kick and with it Madrid’s unbeaten record. The roar from the Betis end sounded like a season being rewritten.

The win lifts Betis level with Madrid on nine points from four matches and sends them into just their second Champions League campaign with belief surging. For Mourinho and Mbappé, the first real bump in the road has arrived early. How they respond may define what this season becomes.