Haoyu Zhang
Kylian Mbappé celebrates his first goal for Real Madrid.
Coming off a historic summer with the signing of French superstar Kylian Mbappé and Brazilian wunderkind Endrick, Real Madrid has truly become the team to beat. With a squad filled with some of the best talents in the world, including but not limited to Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham, Antonio Rüdiger, and Thibaut Courtois, Real Madrid is now the heavy favorite for all European competitions. However, not all superteams succeed, so the question remains: can they win it all? Or will another team step up and challenge the Galacticos?
Before this summer, the core of Madrid’s squad consisted of Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo up top, Valverde, Kroos, and Modric in the middle, and Rüdiger and Carvajal in the defense – the team is damn good. They were good enough to win two of the last three Champions Leagues in both 2022 and 2024. With the addition of Bellingham last summer, the team was looking stronger than ever, and now with the addition of Mbappé, Real Madrid have truly become unstoppable, at least on paper. The harsh reality is that Real Madrid currently sits second place in La Liga, behind Barcelona, and 17th in the Champions League table following an upset from Lille. So what is going on? How are the reigning European Champions losing, especially after signing Kylian Mbappé? Well, Mbappé was perhaps not the best fit for this team.
The problem starts with Real Madrid’s formation, a 4-3-3 attack. The issue with this is that all four of the attackers are technical players who like to push in, and when four guys crowd around the box, it becomes extremely difficult to find space, making it easier for the defense. The other problem is Mbappé and Vinicius Jr.’s playstyles. Although Mbappé is a striker on paper, he has tendencies to drift into the left wing, which is where Vinicus Jr. primarily works. This does allow Bellingham to step up in the middle, but this also creates two downsides. Firstly, with four players up the field, the team becomes vulnerable to counterattacks. Secondly, Bellingham is not a true striker, he is an attacking midfielder. No matter the amount of steps he gets, he will not be inside the box to score goals, something Madrid desperately needs from Mbappé.
All these reasons may have contributed to an offensive slump for now; however, this is unlikely to last long. Madrid’s coach, Carlo Ancelotti, is a man of principle, and he will not let his players play without a sense of position. With due time, Ancelotti will figure out how to properly integrate Mbappé into the starting lineup, and when that day comes, a new dynasty might be formed.
Comments