Mallorca’s pirate Muriqi scuttles Real Madrid and Kylian Mbappé’s big night

Kosovan striker Vedat Muriqi will always treasure the night his goal denied Real Madrid’s new galáctico a maiden win

GOOD DRAW: Vedat Muriqi of RCD Mallorca celebrates scoring his teamÂŽs first goal with teammates during the La Liga match. Picture: Rafa Babot/Getty Images

Vedat Muriqi’s coach once called him a “strange, ugly beast”. Everyone else calls him the Pirate and if he saw himself on a dark, empty street he reckons he’d cross over too, but Real Madrid couldn’t avoid him.

Being proud even to share a pitch with them – world stars, in his words – doesn’t mean that alone is enough. This is Kylian Mbappé’s league, the front pages said on Sunday morning. The night, though, belonged to RCD Mallorca, the 6ft 4in Kosovan with the big beard, ponytail and scurvy smile crashing through them to bludgeon the first competitive goal Thibaut Courtois has conceded in a year and stand there, one hand a patch over his eye, the other pointing to everybody in the place.