Real Madrid is most likely to end the season without major trophies for the second time in a row.
The Royals were knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern; in the King’s Cup – from Albacete, and in La Liga behind Barcelona by 9 points.
For the Madrid players, this is an anomaly, and the club is sounding the alarm.
Who is to blame?!
Well, couldn’t it be Kylian Mbappe scoring on a young Cristiano Ronaldo schedule? Can’t, right?…
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Don’t envy Alvaro Arbeloa right now – he has to lie to people’s faces.
“I have nothing to reproach Kylian. He gave himself completely in defense, worked very hard. I am completely satisfied with his game,” says the Real Madrid coach.
More precisely, not so – the “coach” of Real.
In the current configuration at the Bernabeu, if the coach wants to be really the main one in the dressing room, he is dumped. Therefore, Arbeloa is not telling the truth, but what Kylian Mbappe wants to hear.
Wow, how he worked in the match with Bayern! Do not believe? Then look at Luis Diaz’s winning goal. Do you see the “hard work” of the Frenchman here? How can you not see it? And she is…
And this is how Arbeloa lives every day on the fast.
Not to be kicked out.
Meanwhile, another video from Munich has gone viral online, where we see perhaps the biggest egotist to ever play in the Champions League. Vinicius has never been ignored so demonstrably in his career.
Thierry Henry is a fan of Mbappe since the Monaco days, but he too was completely shocked by the game with Bayern:
“Look where he is and receives the ball. Not in the nine position. Look where he stands. Again! There are always several players there, he shouldn’t be there. Stay in the middle! But he likes to play on the left. Like Vinicius.
Look, now the ball will be in Kamavingi’s court. This is the most advanced player. It shouldn’t be like that. But Kylian is on the wing again. Just try to play near the penalty area! Strain them! Be there! The ball is on the wing, now run! Close it! But he didn’t even read the program.”
What Henry is talking about is the basics of the center forward game.
Exactly how center forward Mbappe moved to Real in the summer of 2024, when Joselu left.
However, Kilian continues to play in a hybrid role, because he is so used to it, and he likes it.
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That’s how the “dictator” meme was born. Have you seen him?
It’s about Mbappe running clubs like Sacha Baron Cohen’s hero – his Wadia.
It’s funny mainly because it’s true.
You can’t envy Vinicius Junior, just like Arbeloa – due to Mbappe’s constant shifts to the left, he lost the space for his crowning maneuver and somehow did not score in 1200 minutes in the championship. Well, because where should he go? Who to look after?
Here’s a heat map of Vini – a typical left winger.
And next to it is the action map of Mbappe – the one who should be the addressee for passes from the flanks.
Heat maps of Mbappe and Vinicius in the 2025/26 season, sofascore.com
Vini is clearly not ready for this. In 2022, he was the key to the victory in the Champions League, giving assists to Karim Benzema, and in 2024 – to Jude Bellingham, who performed the “false nine”. This is two more victories in the Champions League than Kylian has.
All Vina needs from Mbappé is for him to open up for passes in the penalty area.
If he played like that, it would give Real a balance.
But Mbappe sneeze.
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They are often compared, but listen, they are very different players and people.
Vinicius can be disgusting, but he gives his all for the team. In terms of defensive activity, he is among the hardest-working wingers in La Liga.
Mbappe, on the other hand, is elegant with the press but a walking comedy in defence. CIES published an anti-rating of players who cover the smallest distance when defending relative to their partners. So, in the top 10 of the laziest people in the world, 38-year-old Messi, 41-year-old Ronaldo, a couple of clowns from Russia and… Kylian.
Here is the derby with Rayo Vallecano: Mbappe has 0 defensive accelerations, 0 tackles, 0 interceptions, 0 free kick clearances, 0 blocked shots. In just 90 minutes – 2 touches to the ball in defense!
And this is his norm. Against Girona, Levante, Osasuna, these touches were 3 each; with Seville – 6, with Monaco – 8.
Moreover, Mbappe also runs the least in Real Madrid (8.4 km per match) and accelerates (475 m per match).
Xabi Alonso asked Kilian to work harder in the fall of 2025, and he even listened to him for a month or two. At that time, he was carried in the arms, everything went so well. But one lost Clasico – and Mbappe betrayed him.
As a result, 2025 became the worst year for Real Madrid in terms of mileage. If in the 2023 Champions League/24 with the aged Modric and Kroos, the team ran 3-4 km less than the opponents, then with Mbappe the gap increased to 10-12 km. For example, in the memorable match at the Emirates, where Declan Rice played solo, Arsenal ran 113.9 km, and Real – 101.2.
Now it’s the same. Bayern covered 110.9 km, while Real – 101.9.
Can you tell me who ran the least for two teams this evening? Can you guess?
At the same time, the attack also suffers, because successful high pressing is a chance for an easy goal. Barca scored 19 more goals than Real, including thanks to the work of the attackers where Mbappe watches football. This is an anomaly – he puts pressure on the defenders less often than the 37-year-old Lewandowski!
How strikers press in La Liga, laliga.com
And no, it’s not because he scores a lot, it just doesn’t work that way. For example, Harry Kane has scored 51 goals for Bayern this season, has done a huge amount of preparatory work in attack, but continues to press every game.
Harry Kane’s defensive performance in the 2025/26 season, theanalyst.com
Erling Holland was not famous for his defensive work in Dortmund and Salzburg, but heeded Pep Guardiola’s wishes at Man City. This did not prevent the Norwegian from scoring 34 goals in the 2025/26 season.
Erling Holland’s defensive performance in the 2025/26 season, theanalyst.com
Julián Álvarez of Atlético is the king of high pressing. The Argentinian scores less (19), but every second of his defensive actions leads to an interception.
Defensive performance of Julián Alvarez in the 2025/26 season, theanalyst.com
Meanwhile, Mbappé is a dictator.
Mbappe’s efficiency is unpleasantly impressive, theanalyst.com
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And you can’t envy Florentino Perez also – he brought Mbappe to the Bernabeu.
Real Madrid has a somewhat old-fashioned structure without a sports director, therefore even blaming someone else will not work. Everything is on Flo.
And the standsmeanwhile, not blind While Mbappe was recovering in March, Madrid won 5 times in a row, beating Manchester City and Atlético.
It was again the same Real that Carlo Ancelotti used to – Vinicius came to life and scored two doubles; Fede Valverde regained his range and influence in front of the free-kick; even Rüdiger seemed rejuvenated.
When the superstar returned – and 1:2 with Mallorca, 1:2 with Bavaria, 1:1 with Girona, 3:4 with Bavaria.
It is clear that it is not only him who has the problem, but listen, this is not an accident.
Real’s 5 victories in 6 La Liga matches, when Gonzalo Garcia was aggressive against the ball at the start, are also not accidental. The guy has talent, but he doesn’t play. You won’t envy him either.
“Do you like Michael Jordan? That’s how he held all his teammates by the balls! He worked for the defense like damned! Helped the team! Be like him,” – motivated Kylian Luis Enrique back in PSG, but it didn’t work out.
It didn’t work out for Alonso either, and Arbeloa doesn’t even try anymore. He knows all too well what Mbappe is up to.
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The Frenchman’s shield is 84 goals in two incomplete seasons. His critics are not to be envied; at first glance they look silly.
But if you dig deeper…
In La Liga 2023/24, Real scored 87 goals, and in the first draw with Mbappe – 78. Now Madrid have 65 with 7 rounds to go. Kylian did not make the team more productive, he only redistributed the goals in his favor.
And what without “penalty a favor del Real Madrid”? Now with the Frenchman tand 15 goals from the game in La Liga-2025/26as well as the second striker of Barca, Ferran Torres. Not so cool anymore, huh?
Killian’s additional armor – his cunning. In almost every interview, he says the right things:
“I’m a player who defends a little less than others, and sometimes that can be a problem. It’s true that I do it less often, but I notice that when I’m involved, it has a good effect on the team.”
Or else: “Football is not only what you do with the ball. It is also teamwork, responsibility.”
This is such a tactic – he talks with his teeth, but does not carry out any of what he says. Maybe, but doesn’t want to.
Mbappe generally knows how to work with image. It started back in PSG – he seems to be a thoughtful guy, he doesn’t get stupid tattoos, he doesn’t get into scandals, he doesn’t talk nonsense. Ideal! And in the meantime, bang – and he “drains” Thomas Tuchel, who forces him to turn back. Another bang – and Mbappe already “releases” Leonardo, wanting to influence transfers. Boom – and he unsubscribes from Neymar, and he is sold to Al-Hilal.
But success in the Champions League “for some reason” came to PSG only after Kylian left.
Ousmane Dembele is the new leader of the Parisians – the standard of the attacker, who presses in the final third and at the same time tolerates everything that the harsh Enrique says.
“Thanks to Real Madrid for taking away this cancerous tumor!” – Parisian ultras wrote to that.
It is noticeable that Mbappe is sneezed at.
You haven’t forgotten how Xabi Alonso was fired? It was Kilian who called on the team to ignore the coach and not give Barca a championship corridor in the Super Cup. The same pevery day, as many times as beforefell in Paris He sees no problems with them.
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It’s good for Real that the topic has become a meme – therefore, it is out of the category of taboo.
Maybe Arbeloa will dare to tell the truth someday.
Madrid has enough jambs – from the aging defense to the degradation of the roles of Kamavinga and Ceballos. However, the main thing – the balance – is broken primarily by their best scorer.
“His arrival filled the Real Madrid locker room with selfishness. This is his personal fiasco,” admits 1998 world champion Emmanuel Petit.
He knows what he is talking about. During Petit’s time, the greatest masters, but also the egoists of the generation of Eric Canton and David Ginol, stopped being called to the French national team – and only after that did “Le Ble” play the best football.
Meanwhile, the “Bernabeu” is stubbornly reinventing the wheel. Well, they will fire a couple more coaches, buy a few rookies, and sell someone. And what? Will 10 on 11 be easier to defend against? Will the left flank expand to make room for two wingers?
This is a joke.
Mbappe has to go or change. In any other scenario, you won’t be jealous of the entire Real Madrid.
