The date is November 24, 2018.
When referee Juan Martínez Munuela blew the final whistle, Real Madrid, who had lost 3-0 in La Liga to Eibar, walked down the tunnel disappointed in a game in which Benzema was flagged for offside seven times. , tying the league record set by Elche.
Nearly six years later, Kylian Mbappe, Benzema’s long-term replacement, has gone one better against another red-and-blue team, setting an unwanted record. But it was El Clasico at the Bernabeu, in front of nearly 80,000 spectators and millions more around the world, where Real Madrid were beaten 4-0.
Mbappe’s first El Clasico was the subject of much hype as he scored six goals in four games against Barcelona, including a hat-trick at the Camp Nou. He has also regularly performed well in the big games, scoring three goals in five games against his current club in the Champions League, four goals in France’s two World Cup finals, and three goals against Marseille, Lyon, Monaco and Lille scored 38 goals in 52 Ligue 1 games.
On Saturday, if he and partner Vinicius Júnior time their runs well, Barca’s high defense is expected to give him a chance as their pace is superior to Barcelona’s defenders.
The strategy was simple on paper, but Mbappe struggled for a variety of reasons, ranging from insufficient chemistry with his teammates to outright squandering.
Real Madrid’s strategy has been clear since the start of the season on Saturday.
Their defenders kicked the ball up the pitch, allowing Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham to win duels.
The physicality of Federico Valverde, Aureliano Chuameni and Eduardo Camavinga allows them to dominate Barcelona’s front six if they concede in the first period Upside. All three Madrid midfielders can break through pressure with quick passes, a combination of qualities that caused Barca problems in the first half.
The final pieces of the puzzle were well-timed runs and guaranteed shots, but two offsides in the opening 90 seconds showed that was easier said than done.
For the second goal, Camavinga pushed Mbappe behind in a huge gap between Jules Kounde and Inigo Martinez who were wary of Vinicius Junior, while Paulo ·Kubasi stepped forward and approached Camavinga. Mbappe rushed over but his shot was poor as he dragged the ball away.
In the next 12 minutes, Mbappe made two achievements without the ball, pressing higher than any time he has done this season, forcing Martinez to pass long to help the team regain possession of the ball. He also received a long pass from Ed Militao and passed it to Vinicius Junior to start the attack.
Mbappe’s desire to contribute is evident and his movement off the ball sets the foundation for the way the team plays.
What followed was a third offside, which showed he hadn’t learned the lesson of the previous one.
Vinicius Jr. once again suppressed Conde on the right, Kubalsi did not come forward, and Mbappe found space between the two Barcelona center backs. Mbappe glanced back, but it was a little too early to start running from Camavinga’s pass.
He was ruled offside after passing for Bellingham, who forced Inaki Pena into a fine save…
More off-the-ball pressure on Martinez forced another Barcelona turnover, before the most obvious of Mbappe’s eight offsides came in the 19th minute. In this case, he also looked over his shoulder, but he ran too early to meet Bellingham’s hook pass from the right wing.
Six minutes later, Barcelona was offside again. This time, Mbappe was back on the court, but he kept his eyes on the ball, which meant he didn’t notice Kubas taking a step forward. He was inches from the backline when Ferland Mendy played a pass to him from the left.
Mbappe was getting closer to figuring that out, though, and seemed to have done just that within half an hour.
Antonio Rudiger’s search ball found Lucas Vazquez on the right wing. Mbappe was clearly offside when Vazquez received the ball, but Alejandro Balde blocked the Madrid captain and Mbappe hit back. After a few touches, Vázquez released Mbappe between and behind the centre-backs, who surged forward before deftly cutting into the ball…
…only for Madrid’s joy to be interrupted after a VAR check.
As the semi-automatic replay below shows, this is the closest. Interestingly, Vinicius Junior seemed a little skeptical when the goal was scored, as suggested by his initial hesitation to join in the celebrations (pictured above).
The marginal nature of this call suggests that due to Bellingham’s positioning, Vazquez had time and space and could have passed the ball earlier.
Three minutes later, another long pass from the home team’s defense caused trouble for Barcelona. Mbappe won a one-on-one with Kubalsi and charged forward, only for Martinez to turn around and flick the ball behind him for a corner kick.
It was the striker’s last telling contribution of the first half as the team headed into the break.
Madrid created openings, but as the expected goals (xG) chart below shows, offside made them largely meaningless, with their xG not far behind Barcelona’s, although the visitors Very few goals created.
The second half provided Real Madrid with the opportunity to consolidate their dominance, and four minutes into the game, Mbappe made a timely run behind Kubas to receive a counter-attack pass from Vázquez. His first touch was slightly heavy, allowing Kubas to push the ball into the corner. But it’s encouraging for the Frenchman and his team.
However, this optimism quickly faded.
In the 54th minute, Mbappe’s pressing problem began to emerge. A half-hearted attempt to stop Marc Casado allowed the Barca midfielder to ease into space and find Robert Lewandowski in Barcelona’s first successful attempt through Madrid.
With Mendy out of position, Lewandowski was present and he was clinical with his shot. The visiting team leads 1-0.
Two minutes later, with the pressure on the pitch even more tepid, Barcelona’s clever pass – aided by the composure of half-time substitute Frenkie de Jong – saw Lewandowski’s cross from Balde Scored again.
Now 2-0 down, Real Madrid’s defense was up against the wall, but they failed to create anything of note until Mbappe fired his first legitimate shot of the game in the 61st minute. Receiving a pass from Camavinga on the left, he used his favorite right foot to cut inside and then fired a low shot directly towards Pena.
Three minutes later, Mbappe fired his second shot after another well-timed run between Kubalsi and Martinez. He latched on to Vinicius Junior’s boot pass from the left wing and fired towards goal, but Pena went well off the goal line, narrowing the angle.
Instead of passing the ball around or lifting it over his head, Mbappe fired straight at Pena.
Mbappe became increasingly involved, but he was caught in the offside trap again in the 66th minute.
After Raphinha lost control of the Real Madrid defence, Vázquez found Valverde, who was immediately blocked by Dani Olmo. Mbappe was offside in both actions.
Valverde initially looked up and saw that Mbappe (along with Vinicius Junior and Bellingham) was still offside, allowing Olmo to apply more pressure. With no choice, he had no choice but to pass the ball to the Frenchman. Mbappe then fired the ball into Pena’s far corner, but it was clearly offside again.
Mbappe’s third and final shot of the game came in the 71st minute.
After Olmo lost possession in his own half, Luka Modric moved the ball over the backline to find Mbappe, who made a perfect run on Martinez’s blind side to create another one. One-on-one opportunity. This time, Pena moved closer to the edge of the six-yard box, daring Mbappe to beat him at either post.
Mbappe chose the far post, but his execution was poor and Pena made another effortless save.
Mbappe was last involved in the game in the opening seconds of injury time and was an almost perfect example of how Madrid’s initial game plan would work.
Bellingham Lacubas fired a long pass forward, which sailed past two men and into the path of Vinicius Junior. Mbappe broke quickly and forced Pena to save at the near post, but thanks to Martinez’s clever sprint backwards, Cubas was able to recover and set up the offside trap again.
The result? The assistant referee’s flag was raised again. The home team had 12 fouls, and Mbappe alone had 8 fouls…
Between Mbappe’s final shot and the final offside, Barcelona scored twice. The first goal was Lamine Yamal’s thunderous near-post strike, which was somewhat reminiscent of Mbappe’s first goal in his 2021 Camp Nou hat-trick. The ball came from a deft cut by Raphinha, who easily broke through Real Madrid’s last line of defense with a long pass.
These goals epitomized what Real Madrid needed from Mbappe that night, but he could never put the two together.
At times, timing and perhaps a desire to make an impact seemed to overwhelm him. Elsewhere, he simply didn’t show the confidence many had in his game, especially in front of goal. In such a big game, there is no penalty for the underdog.
There’s also the question of synergy with his new teammates, which should improve over time. The game against Barcelona stood out due to the number of offsides, but it’s worth noting that Mbappe had been called offside in at least seven of his nine La Liga games before Saturday.
Mbappe’s frustrating performance (Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP via Getty Images)
This season, the Real Madrid team has only been offside 24 times, and Mbappe contributed 17 of them. Vinicius Jr. was offside twice against Barcelona, but had only done so once all season previously. The Brazilian’s movement is smart, he knows when his teammates are passing the ball and he knows he can beat most defenders with his pace.
For this partnership to work on the biggest stage – especially given the pair’s limitations in leading the media – Mbappe will need to develop similar game-savvy based on improved chemistry with his teammates. He also needs to be less wasteful when opportunities come his way, with his six league goals this season coming from an expected goals of 7.7.
Playing for Real Madrid is Mbappe’s ultimate dream. After realizing this, the hardest part of the job now begins.
(Top photo: David Ramos/Getty Images)
