The ‘other’ Kylian Mbappé: Real Madrid striker’s concerning stat

The French national team’s 2-0 loss in Croatia during the first leg of the Nations League quarterfinals significantly dampened Kylian Mbappé‘s return.

After six months away, all eyes were on the Real Madrid forward, who was highly involved in Split, recording over 70 touches in 90 minutes. However, the staunch defense of the Balkans and omnipresent Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic overshadowed his comeback as captain of the World Cup runners-up.

Mbappé “can always do better”

Mbappé has only scored twice in his last 50 shots for France. Against Croatia, he had four chances, all on target, but Livakovic repelled them all. “He looked fit and involved, but he can always do better,” Didier Deschamps remarked to French broadcaster TF1 after the defeat in Croatia.

It wasn’t the best night for Mbappé, as the result suggests. In the first half, which was a disaster for France, who went to the locker room with a 2-0 deficit, the Real Madrid star played freely, combining with midfielders and frequently starting from the left.

Despite a forgettable opening period for Deschamps' team, Mbappé created the two clearest chances for Les Bleus, both long-range shots with his right foot, which Livakovic managed to save, albeit with some difficulty.

In the second half, with a much more organized France urgently seeking a goal to change the course of the match, Mbappé again crashed against the Croatian wall.

The heroic Livakovic once again rose to the occasion to keep out an extraordinary left-footed strike. The goalkeeper, a nightmare for the French throughout the game, saved another shot from the Real Madrid attacker after a cross from Ousmane Dembélé, denying Mbappé a 48th goal for his country.

Remembering Kylian Mbappé‘s last France goal

The 26-year-old last goal for the French national team came all the way back in June, a penalty at Euro 2024. The only goal he scored during the entire tournament, marerd by a broken nose suffered in his first match against Austria, came against Poland in the third game in the group stage.

Since then, neither in the September international break, when he started against Italy and was a substitute against Belgium, nor this Thursday against Croatia, has he been able to increase his tally. He has scored two goals in his last 13 matches for France, missing the two international breaks prior to the current one.

“It’s hard to say that the French captain was in the best of spirits with his teammates on the Poljud Stadion field, to the point that the defense’s collapse in the first half put the French team in an uncomfortable position,” assessed Le Parisien. However, the newspaper emphasized that Mbappé‘s quality is likely to be decisive in trying to overturn a disappointing first-leg result that has jeopardized France’s continuity in the Nations League.

Without blaming him for the defeat, highlighting the connection he forged with Dembélé at several points during the match, French sports paper L'Équipe, notoriously difficult to please, was lenient with Mbappé, rating his performance in Croatia as a ‘5’ (out of 10).

“He shot many times, often on target, but lacked effectiveness. He was active and often available in the game, but he couldn’t get himself into dangerous positions often enough. His technical link-up with Dembélé was particularly interesting after the break, as they combined more frequently, but it wasn’t enough to unsettle the Croatian block,” it summarizes.

On Sunday, in Saint-Denis, captain Mbappé will have to lead the charge to pave the way for a comeback.

Original article written by Andrés Onrubia, translated with the assistance of AI and edited by Roddy Cons.

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