Kylian Mbappé’s less than ideal start at Real Madrid continued after Tuesday 3-1 defeat at home against Milan in the UEFA Champions League meant a defeat in the second phase of the league against the defending champions at the Santiago Bernabéu. Malick Thiaw, Alvaro Morata and Tijani Reijnders hurt the visiting Rossoneri in the Spanish capital as they won a continental clash between two of European football‘s oldest powers that gave coach Paulo Fonseca a huge boost.
It was another frustrating outing for Mbappe, who played the full 90 minutes, but was well coached by the Milan defense and at times denied by fellow French international Mike Maignan as he attempted to drag Carlo Ancelotti’s men back into the action. Vinicius Junior provided Real’s consolation goal when the Brazilian temporarily equalized from the penalty spot after 23 minutes, proving that Mbappe is far from Los Blancos’ go-to star when the chips are down.
Antonio Rudiger appeared to have pulled one back late but was disallowed for offside in the final 10 minutes, but the hosts were far from dominant and ended up being surprised by the Italian visitors inspired by Christian Pulisic. Mbappé’s latest performance leaves him with eight goals in 14 games since his arrival from Paris Saint-Germain, but just one goal in his last six games comes when former Real Madrid star and former France teammate Karim Benzema has publicly criticized the 25-year-old player.
“The problem, in my opinion, is that [Mbappe] “He is not a central forward, not even in the national team, every time he plays as a nine he does not feel good, because that is not his position,” Benzema told El Chiringuito. “On the left he has a boy who is at the same level as him, Vinicius, so there is a problem, you can’t play with Vinicius as the number nine or on the right, because when he plays on the left he makes the “There is a difference in every game . Mbappé is not a true number nine. “People ask a lot of him and he is under a lot of pressure, this is not PSG.”
Ancelotti favors Vini Jr. on the left, giving Mbappé no option but to play through the middle and, although the clash between the two star players was stylistically predictable, it has also contributed to what has been a start to Very complicated life in Madrid for the French. Benzema is the Spanish giants’ second all-time record goalscorer behind Cristiano Ronaldo, something Mbappe will look to improve over time, but this is possibly the first real crisis period of the former AS Monaco player’s superstar career.
“Don’t give up, because I don’t think he’s going to pressure Vinicius to move,” Benzema offered Mbappé as advice. “He is the best player in the world at the moment. Mbappé needs to get it into his head that today he is number nine and forget about the left flank for a while.” However, despite the former France international’s opinion, it was Manchester City’s Rodri who was chosen as the recent Ballon d’Or winner, something Mbappé did not come close to after a disappointing 2024 with both PSG and Les Bleus.
Benzema won five Champions League and four La Liga titles in a 14-season spell at the Santiago Bernabeu and had to endure initial periods of doubt before winning over even the most ardent skeptics. He even admitted that “if you go two or three games without scoring, you’re going to have a lot of problems,” and Mbappé is certainly proving that in this slow moment. A spectral exit in El Clásico as Real lost their 42-game unbeaten streak in La Liga against Barcelona in humiliating 4-0 fashion only rubs salt into already open wounds.
Perhaps there is a lot of truth in what Benzema says, although it will not be appreciated now given how difficult this first half of the new season is being for the meringues. The sooner Mbappé can follow that advice the better, as his compatriot is an example of how long it can take to really find his place at Real Madrid and that was at a time when there was a lot more patience in the game than there is today.
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