The juxtaposition of Kylian Mbappe and Real Madrid’s defining Champions League season | OneFootball

Ahead of his third season at Real Madrid, it feels as if Kylian Mbappe still has everything to prove.

The tone of Mbappe’s appearance at a press conference on the eve of the return of the Champions League suggested as much, as the 27-year-old was bombarded with a series of questions from the Madrid press relating to why this union between superclub and superstar has yet to work out; from his relationship with follow forward VInicius Jr, amid rumours that they do not get along, to the atmosphere in the dressing room after last season’s reports of in-fighting under Xabi Alonso and then Alvaro Arbeloa.

Right at the end of the tense exchange, Mbappe was confronted with the fact he is yet to win a major trophy with Real Madrid while his former club Paris Saint-Germain have won back-to-back Champions League titles since he left. The common, unshakeable narrative since Mbappe left PSG is that they have become a team under Luis Enrique while Real Madrid look to have gone back in time, appearing as an expensive collection of individuals.

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe during a press conference (Reuters)

Mbappe’s response, naturally, was to go on the defensive. He is, after all, just two months removed from becoming the World Cup’s record goalscorer and a summer that leaves him, already, as one of the greatest players in the tournament’s history. His 10 goals in North America followed a second season where he scored 42 goals in just 44 appearances for Real Madrid, and which should make the France forward one of the main contenders for this year’s Ballon d’Or.

It is the juxtaposition of Mbappe and France and Mbappe and Madrid, though, that continues to count against him and which frames his third season at the Bernabeu. After two trophyless years, Jose Mourinho is back for a second spell; the message being that only Mourinho’s reputation and the spectre of what he once was can bring the discipline and control to allow their attacking talents to flourish.

It has not taken long for Mourinho to arrive at his first test, however, after Friday’s 1-0 defeat at Real Betis, where Mbappe missed a late penalty. Madrid already trail defending champions Barcelona, who have scored 17 goals in their first four wins of the LaLiga season. Even at this early stage of the season, Barcelona are setting the standard and throwing down the challenge with not only in their results but in how they attack and defend as a team. The suggestion made to Mbappe was that he and Vinicius do not do enough for the team defensively, before they were both compared to the examples of Ousmane Dembele at PSG or Raphina at Barcelona.

Yet Mbappe’s response was telling. “If I wanted to be stupid, I could tell you that I score more goals than those two players you mentioned, so they need to score more to be like me. Everyone's different,” he said. “But I'm smart, so I'll tell you that I need to improve. But I don't like comparing myself because I do a lot of things that others don't. It's an endless debate. But yes, the whole team needs to improve defensively, and with the ball, we need to raise our level too."

And in fairness to Mbappe, perhaps too much of his Real Madrid career so far has been spent focusing on the parts of his game that he doesn’t have, rather than the things that he does do. Dembele is a Ballon d’Or winner and two-time Champions League winner but he did not light up another World Cup like Mbappe did, nor can he bend a game to its will in the manner of his France team-mate. Raphinha, too, to follow the example. Mbappe accepts that others may disagree and they are entitled to their opinion, but he was unequivocal in his conviction that he is the best player in the world.

Yet that does mean he is above scrutiny, either, simply because of where he is. There was a small window in the summer where Arsenal’s approach for Vinicius gave Real Madrid an opportunity to build their attack around Mbappe, rather than cramming two players who prefer to come off the left into the same side. It even factored into Arsenal’s ambitious approach, but with the Brazilian staying, the onus is now on them both to operate together on the pitch. For all of Mbappe’s ability as a goalscorer, he will also be judged on the balance of Real Madrid this season. After two trophyless campaigns, the pressure is also on.