What do you get when a megastar like Kylian Mbappe joins Real Madrid? Goals and trophies. Most likely. Media attention. Guilty. Pressure and expectation. Absolutely.
Mbappe has scored 8 goals and 2 assists in 14 matches played for Real Madrid.
It’s a good start for a player adjusting to a new country, but that’s how it is a club that refused to participate in the Ballon d’Or ceremony when it became clear that one of them was not going to win.
They see themselves as football’s apex predator and they have the trophies to back it up. They want more than solid.
So, after Real Madrid’s disastrous 4-0 home defeat to Barcelona, we wondered how Mbappe is doing.
“Barcelona” stayed at “Bernabeu”.
Problem one. Mbappe is not taking any chances
Mbappe has taken the most shots of any player in Europe’s top leagues this season, but his finishing has been decidedly mediocre. Take away the three penalties he scored in La Liga and things get worse.
(Ratings for players in the top 5 European leagues)
Without those penalties, Mbappe’s shot conversion rate is well below that of his peers, notably Lewandowski and Bradley Barkola, who are currently making a great fist of replacing Mbappe at PSG.
In Mbappe’s defence, he is the third top scorer in Spain, although eight goals behind Lewandowski. It’s unfortunate that Barcelona have a player who is enjoying the end of such an incredible career, but welcome to the Bernabeu. They don’t like being outplayed by Barca.
Problem two: keeping it on the side
Mbappe did not concede two goals as he had a disappointing El Clasico debut
What do you think of Mbappe’s pace? One way is to go deep and give him nothing to bump into. The other way, more risky, is to push and let the assistant referee help. “Barcelona” did so.
Mbappe has been sent off eight times in El Clasico, the most by a player in Europe’s biggest league since December 2013, after playing for Sergio Pelissier at Chievo.
Part of that has to do with Barcelona’s remarkable offside haul of 77 offsides this season in La Liga, 32 times more than any other team in Europe. But even if you removed El Clasico from the record (as Real Madrid would no doubt like to do), Mbappe would still be La Liga’s second-most capped player.
Only two other players have been sidelined as often this season as Mbappe on Saturday.
This will not be Mbappe’s biggest problem. few teams will be as bold as Barcelona, but there are early signs it will have an impact. Last season, Real Madrid scored almost a quarter of their league goals from counter-attacks and through balls; situations where you’d expect Mbappe to thrive, but so far they’ve only scored one goal each.
Teams are likely to defend much deeper against Real Madrid now they have Mbappe. But if that’s the case, it’s an area where player and team need to adjust.
Problem three. Other superstars of “Real”.
Jude Bellingham is yet to score a goal for Madrid this season
This is not the first time Mbappe has had to learn to play with other superstars. remember the days of Messi and Neymar at PSG? The difference is that back then, Mbappe was a young up-and-comer.
Now he is a recognized global icon, a World Cup winner, one of the few players on Earth who can legitimately walk into the Real Madrid dressing room and expect his new teammates to adapt to him.
So far it’s happening. Vinicius Junior was Real’s top scorer last season with 24 goals in 39 games, but he has been more of a creator under Mbappe. Goals, shots and touches in the opponent’s field are unlucky (although he has five goals in the league, only one less than Mbappe); assists and chance creation are over.
The role of Jude Bellingham has also changed. He scored 19 league goals last season; this time he still can’t score in the league. Not surprising when you consider he’s been much less active in the final third of this season.
Vinicius Junior, Bellingham and Rodrigo combined for 9.4 shots per 90 shots in La Liga last season. That’s down to 6.2 this season. Mbappe made Real Madrid more predictable.
Problem four. Maybe we’re expecting too much.
Mbappé scored 8 goals in 14 matches played for Real Madrid
As we mentioned above, Mbappe hasn’t had a terrible start.
He has six goals in 10 league games. Ronaldo scored 7 goals in his first 10 games for Real Madrid.
Saturday was not the first time in recent years that the El Clasico has suffered a heavy home defeat for either team. And you can hardly say that the man who scored two penalties in the World Cup final – three if you include the shootout – can’t handle the pressure.
But that’s life at Real Madrid.
