What’s up with Mbappé?

After a sluggish start to life in LaLiga, Kylian Mbappé managed to turn the corner with his 28 goals and 5 assists consolidating his status as a new idol for the Bernabeu faithful.

However, two lackluster showings in the past two games have raised a series of eyebrows with Real Madrid coach Ancelotti having to come out and defend the striker: “He hasn’t been able to work much, because the issues from his wisdom tooth removal which has deprived him of the chance to train properly for a series of days. He didn’t come into the Betis match in optimal condition and recent playing time will have done him good.”

Statistics don’t always reflect reality in football but those relating to Mbappé‘s last two performances are slightly concerning for Madridistas. In the LaLiga and UCL contests, he only managed one shot (against Atleti) which was a tame left footed drive which was gathered by Oblak. He failed to force any fouls (Vinicius, in contrast won four), he lost 12 balls (his fourth worst stat as a Real Madrid player) and only won 2 out of 10 defensive battles. The Frenchman posted the lowest passing percentage of any outfield player (82.5%, only ahead of Courtois and his 79.2%) and none of them finished successfully in the opponent’s area.

Just as the Champions League derby against Atletico was reaching its conclusion, the former PSG man failed to find Vinicius from the byline with the Brazilian free in acres of space. A third goal that would have almost have killed off Atleti’s hopes of staging a comeback in next week’s return leg.

From toothache to toothache again

Mbappé has already picked himself up from a recognised poor start to life in Spain. He admitted after the defeat away in Bilbao last year he was suffering from a ‘mental block’ claiming: “What happened to me was an emotional thing [...] And in Bilbao I realised that I couldn’t do any worse. That was when I said to myself ‘come on, you haven’t come to Madrid to play badly’,” he acknowledged.

Real Madrid fans will be hoping that the past two games were ‘accidents’ and by products of having his wisdom tooth removed and that on Sunday Mbappé will have the opportunity to sharpen his appetite in front of goal as they face a depleted Rayo Vallecano.

Next Wednesday also offers another opportunity for the forward to prove that the past two games were just ‘blips’ and that his performance and possible goals can spur Madrid onto the next stage of the competition where Arsenal (barring a historic PSV turnaround) await in the quarter-final.

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