Mariano finally started for Real Madrid. The absence of Karim Benzema, the latest in a big list of injuries, made Zidane give the chance to the 27-year-old striker.
He has always had in his favour the intensity and hunger with which he has entered the field. Even if he only had a few minutes at the end of the game, the fans at least saw the player's desire to get stuck in.
Against Valladolid, he was the protagonist in the first half. Or rather no goals were scored in the first half, but he beat Masip twice.
Both were ruled out for offside, but in some cases, intention really does count. He got into the box in the 23rd minute, although he was quite far in front of the last defender when the ball was passed.
He only took seven minutes to score again... and to regret it all over again. Modric played him a great ball into space, but a few tenths of a second later than ideal. Mariano lost his marker and scored, but he was slightly offside.