November 27, 2024. After a complicated start to the season, Real Madrid lost again in the Champions League on Liverpool’s pitch. In this meeting, Kylian Mbappé missed everything. After a difficult first few months in the club of his dreams, the former PSG man completely got through his evening at Anfield. Author of a completely missed penalty and after a fall on the head which will become the illustration of the 2018 world champion’s failed debut with Real, Mbappé achieved nothing. This evening in November 2024 is also the climax of the Mbappé melodrama. After a final vintage of black pudding with PSG, the Bondynois was at the heart of a controversy after his vacation in Sweden which resulted in an accusation of rape. At the same time, captain of the France team, Mbappé had snubbed the October gathering before being pushed aside in November by Didier Deschamps. A year later, everything changed.
Kylian Mbappé is no longer in controversies
Indeed, Kylian Mbappé has once again become the exhilarating player that he was on numerous occasions during his career. Pichichi and last season’s European Golden Shoe, the 26-year-old striker failed to win any major titles with the White House in his first season. Revanchard, the player trained at AS Monaco, has not been talked about since the end of the eventful 2024. Concentrated on his game, the former INF Clairefontaine no longer gets into the ego wars at the club and his communication has become perfect again. Discreet on social networks, he is no longer the author of virulent outings at press conferences or certain clumsy outings have turned against him in the past.
He only had to see during the last Clasico. Generally scrutinized very closely for his performances during major meetings, Kylian Mbappé did not speak before the meeting. On the pitch, the Merengues number 10 was decisive with a goal, another refused for offside and a missed penalty. After the match, Mbappé didn’t speak either and just indulged in a little musical argument with Lamine Yamal who, for once, took the opposite direction with a lot of acerbic words before the match before completely going through his meeting on the meadow. A sign that Kylian Mbappé is no longer involved in controversies: he now responds on the pitch.
Successful acclimatization, connection with Xabi Alonso and beneficial gastro
But to answer on the meadow, you also need other ingredients. Even if he always knew how to stack goals during his first season in Madrid, Mbappé also needed to have a real impact in the game. Under the orders of Xabi Alonso, Kylian Mbappé reached a milestone. While Carlo Ancelotti had given a lot of importance to the top scorer in the history of PSG without managing to resolve the problem of cohabitation with his teammates, the Spanish technician found the right recipe. By pairing him with players who often look for him like Arda Güler, Alonso allows a lot of freedom of movement for last season’s Pichichi. Able to go left and take the depth even more frequently while always seeking to participate in the game, Mbappé is central in the Alonso system. At a press conference, the 43-year-old coach praised his player, saying that he was exceptional in his current role at Real.
“I think the positive influence he has on the team is almost as important as his goals. The fact that his teammates follow him when he has the ball and when he doesn’t also, I think that helps us to better control the matches. Kylian will always score goals. He did it everywhere he went, in Monaco, in Paris, here, with the national team too. But beyond that, its influence is even greater. I think it’s fundamental. This is what the team needs and Kylian is improving a lot in this area, which makes me very happy. He is going through a very good period on a personal level, because after adapting last year, he has now found his place. He is very analytical, very intelligent, he does things for specific reasons. And he must understand them well. And now it’s all coming together in his head, which is why he’s so successful.»
In addition to this collusion with the Alonso system and his privileged relationship with Arda Güler and Franco Mastantuono, Mbappé coexists well with the two other Madrid stars: Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior. A successful compromise for Real, which has had an exceptional start to the season. Author of 16 goals in 13 matches with the White House, Mbappé is well on his way to having a historic season, just a stone’s throw from a third World Cup with France. Enough to motivate the Frenchman to do more and more on the pitch and to confirm that he has regained the level that was his during his heyday with Paris Saint-Germain. Sharper after gastroenteritis contracted this summer and which caused him to lose around four kilos, Mbappé seems much more explosive and confusing this season. Enough to allow him to silence his detractors and finally become, at almost 27 years old, the best player in the world.
