Tag: Beacon

Promises kept to fans

On December 4, 2024, Kylian Mbappé had reached rock bottom. Real Madrid’s most prominent new signing of recent years got off to a decent start with eight goals in his first 13 appearances as Blanco, but after the first Clásico (0:4) on 26 October, in which the Frenchman was not only offside eight times, but also missed a series of great scoring opportunities, a major crisis occurred. The star striker’s confidence almost completely disappeared and nothing worked anymore, even the simplest ball controls became a challenge. Not only did Mbappé hardly score anymore, his body language also did not bode well – he quite simply seemed like a foreign body in the Royal’s offensive game. On the aforementioned 4 December, the whole thing culminated in the 26-year-old miserably missing an important penalty for the second time in a very short space of time in the defeat in Bilbao (1:2), after he had already failed from the penalty spot in Liverpool (0:2) a week earlier. After the disastrous evening in the Basque Country, the striker commented on a story on his Instagram channel:  “Bad result. A big mistake in a game where every detail counts. I take full responsibility for it. A difficult moment, but it is the best time to change this situation and show who I am”, wrote Mbappé – and kept his word! Less than six weeks later, the Frenchman has become a pillar of the royal offensive: With ten goals, he is not only Real’s current top scorer in La Liga, but is also the most accurate Blanco in general with 16 goals in all competitions. 

Mbappé scores in all competitions and all finals

“We simply know each other better. I was new to the team and that changed a lot of things. Now the settling in period is over, as the coach said. I feel very good in the team and we can see on the pitch that I play better with the others and the whole team plays much better,” the Frenchman explained after last year’s final game against Sevilla. In addition to the goals, his body language has also changed completely – Mbappé radiates joy (in playing) again, and clearly enjoys being on the pitch. When dribbling and running, he looks like the world star that the football world has known for years, and his old explosiveness is almost completely back. With 4,4 shots on goal per game, he has the most in LaLiga (ahead of Robert Lewandowski with 3,6), and his 2,4 dribbles per game are the fourth best in the Primera División. The 2018 world champion has also shown significant improvement in his interactions with his colleagues, not only in the Copa duel against Celta, where he shone with the pre-assist before the 2-0, but also in key passes (1,2 per game) – only Vinícius Júnior (2,0), Rodrygo (1,8) and Luka Modrić (1,6) have more at Real.

Mbappé often scores the most important goals. He scored 1-0 goals in Leganés and Bergamo, as well as against Getafe, Pachuca, Sevilla, Celta and in the Supercopa final against Barcelona, ​​although it was ultimately of no use in the final Clásico. He has also scored in all three finals of the season so far, but also in all competitions – No other Real player scored goals in both LaLiga and the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, the Supercopa de España and the Copa del Rey.

Better than Ronaldo

When things weren’t going well in the autumn, fans and the media were keen to draw comparisons between Mbappé and Cristiano Ronaldo to make it clear that the Frenchman would not even come close to playing in the same league as Real’s all-time top scorer. Given the saga and hype that preceded the former PSG captain’s move to the Spanish capital, this is somewhat understandable from an emotional point of view, but it is actually not just out of the question in Mbappé’s case, because the Portuguese has set standards for eternity with 450 goals in 438 games in the white shirt that no other player in the world can currently live up to.

But what does it really look like when you look at the first six months of the two superstars at Real Madrid Cristiano Ronaldo scored nine goals in the first 19 LaLiga matchdays of 2009/10, Mbappé currently has one more. CR7 scored six times in the group phase of his first Champions League season as Blanco, but In mid-January 2010, he scored 15 goals across all competitions, one less than Mbappé at the same time this season. In addition, the Frenchman also has more direct goal involvements (19) than Ronaldo (16). These numbers are not meant to suggest that Kylian Mbappé is as good as Cristiano Ronaldo or even better – he is not and no one in today’s football world is either. If at all, realistic comparisons can and must only be made after nine years, should Mbappé have been at the club for that long at all? Real Madrid They nevertheless make it clear that the newcomer is already performing at a very high level despite all the teething problems and the many justified criticisms.

Far from optimal

The best thing about the Mbappé case from Real’s point of view is that he has still not reached his best level. He still misses relatively easy scoring opportunities too often. He could have scored at least once or twice in the Copa duel against Celta on Thursday evening, if not should have. In some games, such as against Celta or against Sevilla before the turn of the year, he manages to score goals from difficult positions, while failing to score from much better positions. To make matters worse, the team is currently very inconsistent, some attackers are struggling with fluctuations in form and Mbappé has had to carry the royal attacking game alone with Jude Bellingham in recent weeks – especially in important games. If Carlo Ancelotti manages to solve the current problems, the French superstar will also get even better. The interaction with Vinícius is already working more and more often and better, but there is actually more potential, especially if the Brazilian were to concentrate more on playing football and less on opponents and referees. In any case, it is not a bold statement that Kylian Mbappé can and will become even better. At most, it is a promise to Madridismo and a threat to the competition.

At the end of the 2009/10 season, Cristiano Ronaldo had 43 direct goal involvements (33 goals, ten assists). Who’s betting against Mbappé topping these numbers by the summer?