Real Madrid's Frustrating Test Against Betis: Valles Shines

Real Madrid discovered the hard way what a real test looks like this season. Not in terms of control, territory or chances – they had all of that – but where it matters most. In front of goal, where their stars kept colliding with the same green wall: Valles.

They hit the woodwork three times. They missed a penalty. They saw one late goal ruled out. And every time they thought they had finally broken through, the Betis goalkeeper appeared again, stretching, blocking, flying, turning José Mourinho’s forwards into a picture of disbelief.

At the centre of it all, Kylian Mbappé. And his frustration.

The Frenchman had chances of every kind. A double opportunity in the first half that seemed certain to end in a goal, only for Valles and his defence to throw themselves in the way. One-on-ones, shots from angles he usually devours, efforts that normally end with the net bulging. This time, they ended with Valles’s gloves, the post, or both.

The climax came in the 94th minute. Penalty to Madrid. Mbappé on the spot. The stadium holding its breath. He struck, Valles guessed right and pushed it away. For a brief moment there was the sense the drama might not be over – Mbappé looked close to getting a second chance – but Hernández Hernández made his decision. No retake. No reprieve.

If one image sums up Madrid’s night, it is Mbappé walking back from the spot, head down, while Valles is mobbed by his teammates.

The goalkeeper did not just torment the Frenchman. He also denied two powerful headers, one from Jude Bellingham and another from Espí, both efforts that on another night would have been celebrated long before they crossed the line. This time they met a keeper in the form of his life, piecing together what may well go down as the best performance of his career.

Even then, Valles almost saw his work undone at the death. The Valencia forward finally managed to beat him late on, close to the 90th minute, only for the assistant’s flag and a subsequent offside decision to wipe the goal away. Add that to the late penalty call and Hernández Hernández’s refusal to order a retake, and the talking points are ready-made. The controversy will not be short-lived.

Bellingham, usually Madrid’s heartbeat, never quite found his rhythm. From the opening minutes he looked heavy-legged, drained by the stifling heat of La Cartuja. He kept running, kept showing, kept trying to inject some life into Madrid’s attacks, but the spark that lit up the first games of the season flickered rather than burned. Even so, he came within inches of scoring again, denied only by Valles and the crossbar.

On the left, Vini lived a different kind of ordeal. His night became a running duel with Bellerín, and the Betis full-back came out on top in most of their clashes. Time after time Vini drove at him, tried to slip past, tried to create the chaos Madrid needed. Time after time Bellerín stood firm.

Yet Vini did not disappear. His stubbornness paid off when he wriggled into the box and drew the penalty that should have given Los Blancos their lifeline. Earlier, he had already rattled the woodwork after one of Madrid’s best moves of the first half, another reminder that the margins were agonisingly thin.

Chances everywhere. Woodwork shaking. A goalkeeper in a trance. A referee under the spotlight. And for Madrid, a brutal lesson: dominance means nothing if the ball refuses to go in.