Real Madrid's Unbeaten Start Ends as Kylian Mbappé Misses Penalty
Kylian Mbappé stood over the ball, the clock deep into stoppage time, the game and Real Madrid’s unbeaten start resting on his right foot. He had buried his previous seven penalties for the club. This one would not join them.
Álvaro Valles guessed right, plunged low, and smothered the shot. The Benito Villamarín exploded. Real Betis 1, Real Madrid 0. Mourinho’s first defeat back in charge, sealed with a save that felt like a statement.
Valles the wall, Parrott the hero
Betis had clung on, then punched late.
For most of the night, Valles kept Madrid at bay almost single-handedly. Vinícius Júnior clipped the post. Mbappé saw one effort crash into Natan’s body and another snuffed out by Marc Bartra, who justified his recall with a crucial block. Jude Bellingham thought he had finally broken through after the interval, only for Valles to fling himself across goal yet again.
Madrid kept coming. Mbappé dragged a shot inches wide just after the restart. The tempo never really dipped. Every attack felt like it might tilt the game.
Instead, the breakthrough came at the other end.
With nine minutes to play, Nelson Deossa rose to meet a cross and hammered a header at Thibaut Courtois. The goalkeeper beat it away but couldn’t hold it. The loose ball dropped perfectly for Troy Parrott, the Irish striker making his mark in green and white. One touch, one finish, one first goal for Betis since his summer move from AZ Alkmaar. The stadium shook.
Madrid’s late fury falls short
The goal only sharpened Madrid’s desperation.
Mbappé rattled the crossbar with a vicious drive five minutes from time. Substitute Carlos Espí then thought he had written his own script, acrobatically flicking the ball past Valles. For a few seconds, Madrid believed they were level.
VAR cut the celebrations short. Offside. No reprieve.
Betis almost killed it on the break, Courtois forced into another stop from Deossa as Madrid threw everything forward and left gaps everywhere. Mourinho’s side were running on emotion and urgency, not control.
Then came the final twist.
Natan clipped Vinícius in the box, the referee pointed straight to the spot, and Madrid’s stars swarmed around the ball. Mbappé took responsibility, as he always does. His run-up was familiar. The finish wasn’t. Too soft, too close to Valles, who dived and held. Betis players roared in his face. Madrid players turned to the officials, insisting Bartra had encroached and the kick should be retaken. The protests went nowhere.
Betis kept their nerve. They kept their lead. They kept all three points.
Mourinho’s perfect start broken
For Madrid, the defeat cuts deeper than a single missed penalty.
They arrived in Seville with three wins from three under José Mourinho’s second coming, riding the wave of a fresh start after two trophy-less seasons. That momentum met resistance in the form of a disciplined, defiant Betis side and a goalkeeper in the form of his life.
It is the first time since the 2015–16 campaign that Madrid have lost one of their opening four league fixtures. The numbers will bother Mourinho. The manner of the loss might bother him more: chances created, chances wasted, punished by a single lapse and a failure from 12 yards.
For Betis, this was a night to remember. For Mbappé and Madrid, it was a reminder. The margin for error in this title race is already razor-thin.
Barcelona travel to Valencia on Sunday with the chance to open up an early three-point gap over their great rivals. September has barely begun, and already the pressure is back on the Bernabéu.
