Real Madrid: Kylian Mbappé, an unconvincing repositioning

A conclusive return? This Sunday, November 24, Kylian Mbappé returned to the field, after an international break marked by an absence with the Blues and questions about his mental state, fueling debates in Spain and in France. Facing Leganés, 14th in the ranking, the challenge was twofold for his club Real Madrid: to get closer to Barça, surprised in Vigo (2-2), and to regain second place from Atlético. The former Parisian did not have a perfect match this evening, even if at the final whistle his team was able to rise to the challenge and finally left with the three points thanks to a big victory (0- 3).

Aligned for the first time this season in the left lane, alongside Vinicius up front, the player started his match with some great actions. In the 11th minute of play, he finally thought of clearing the counters, but saw his goal canceled for offside. Trapped by the opposing lineup, the striker finds himself in a situation he knows well this season, notably during the Clasico against Barcelona (4-0) where he was flagged offside eight times.

Still doubts and few certainties

Shortly before half-time, however, Mbappé will finally return to success. Alone facing Marko Dmitrović, Vinicius makes the pass on the left for Mbappé, who concludes. But after opening the score, he seemed to fall back into his mistakes again. Too discreet despite the fact that he played on the left and not in the center, he was not really convincing. His game continues to lack edge, where, at Paris Saint-Germain, he had made it one of his trademarks. His influence on the match was also too limited, especially for a player of his caliber.

In a post-match press conference, Carlo Ancelotti however felt that the repositioning of his number 9 was good. “ We changed the position of the attackers, with Mbappé on the outside and he played well, as did Vinicius on the inside. The team controlled very well the good feelings we had in the match against Osasuna and we confirmed it today “, he insisted. Even if his performance indeed allowed Real to take the advantage, he undoubtedly struggled to impose his presence on the field during the almost two full halves that he played (replaced by Modric in the 83rd, Editor’s note) . Not enough, therefore, to totally bring more confidence before the Champions League shock against Liverpool. See you next Wednesday for the rest of this story.