Oh, Kylian Mbappe, the stage was set. This is what he was brought to the Santiago Bernabeu for — to ignite the pitch with his blistering runs and clever finishes in big matches. But his nightmare El Clasico debut will live in infamy for Real Madrid fans for years to come. In one aspect, however, he did outshine his idol, Cristiano Ronaldo, on Saturday.
It wasn’t just the 4-0 thrashing that unsettled Real Madrid fans. In fact, they might even be somewhat accustomed to it by now, having faced heavy losses to Barcelona more frequently in recent years.
🏁 @RealMadrid 0-4 @FCBarcelona_es
⚽ 54′ Lewandowski
⚽ 56′ Lewandowski
⚽ 77′ Lamine Yamal
⚽ 84′ Raphinha#ElClásico | @emirates pic.twitter.com/0Iuc6uPUDW— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) October 26, 2024
What Madrid fans can find solace in, though, is that in most of those recent beatings by the Catalans, the losses turned out to be inconsequential in the bigger picture.
Yes, the Barcelona win not only took them six points clear at the top of La Liga standings, but also gave them a confidence boost that had been missing for several years. But it is still too early to write Real Madrid off — their habit of making comebacks is legendary.
Madridistas, and potentially the club’s staff, would be worried about Mbappe, however. He arrived with the potential to be the new face of Real Madrid, aiming to truly establish himself as the best player in the world. Yet, the only record Mbappe did break was that of having more offsides than Ronaldo did throughout his time at Real Madrid.
In his nine years at Real Madrid, Ronaldo was offside in El Clasico’s three times — playing a minimum of at-least two games against Barcelona a season.
Mbappe, on Saturday, was offside eight times, and the Santiago Bernabeu let him know that he was messing up.
In all fairness, Carlo Ancelotti’s claim that Real Madrid approached the game positively, was not wrong. In the first half, things were working well for Los Blancos, and they came close to scoring on umpteenth occasions. But still, the fat lady did not sing.
vini to jude vs vini to mbappe pic.twitter.com/q3j4637RC1
— RMFCTeam (@RMFC_team) October 26, 2024
Mbappe was offside six times in the first half, and even celebrated a goal (three times) which ultimately got ruled out. Barcelona’s high-line was being properly exploited, and Hansi Flick looked like a worried man.
Mbappe, however, kept things in the balance by missing several chances. Although he wasn’t the only one with Vinicius and Jude Bellingham also failing to convert several easy openings, it was Mbappe who was brought in to score the goals, and so far, he has failed.
It would be interesting to see how Mbappe and the Madrid players recover from this biblical thrashing. Is it a new reality and a changing of the order for the best team in Europe? Or is it simply a wake-up call for the Madrid players.
