Offsides in spades, disallowed goal and rout at home… Kylian Mbappé misses out on his first Clasico against Barça – Libération

From dream to nightmare: Real Madrid star striker Kylian Mbappé experienced an extremely frustrating first Clasico on Saturday evening, October 26, which saw him go from potential hero to symbol of Madrid’s collective bankruptcy against its great rival FC Barcelona (4-0).

It was to be his first big evening, the one that would launch, for good, his adventure with “the club of his dreams” and would bring him into the hearts of his supporters. It was ultimately a night to forget for the French striker, caught offside no less than eight times by a daring Barcelona defense, placed very high on the pitch, then clumsy in front of goal when he had the opportunity to shine.

“Mbappé gritted his teeth, caught in the spider’s web of Flick’s offsides [l’entraîneur de Barcelone] and not realistic about the good opportunities that this shock offered him”summarizes the daily AS, while the No.9 Merengue missed two face-to-face encounters with Catalan goalkeeper Inaki Pena in the second half.

This often played out a few centimeters away, as in the thirtieth minute of play, where, thrown deep by Lucas Vazquez, he exploded the Santiago Bernabeu with a subtle dive ball to open the scoring… before seeing his goal disallowed for offside. The sixth of the game, already. He suffered two more in the second half, while Real tried to come back to the score, once again found wanting by the young Pau Cubarsi, 17, and the experienced Inigo Martinez, always well aligned.

“We knew they were playing with this very high block, so we wanted to try to take advantage of it. He had chances to score, it’s true that he was caught offside several times, but that’s normal with such a high defensive line. Then he could have scored several times but he lacked a little efficiency.judged Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti after the match.

“Alarming”, “ridiculous”, “not at the level expected of him”… Mbappé was widely singled out by the Spanish press, who nevertheless believed that the captain of the France team seemed to be returning to his best level despite his extra-sporting affairs (accusations of rape in Sweden brought by the press, financial dispute with PSG…) and its physical glitches.

“A match like last night seemed ideal for him to take a step forward, but we will have to wait. Against Barça he was able to run and, with a little success, he could have at least scored a goal, but beyond that he is not as decisive and formidable as in previous years.underlines Mark in its pages on Sunday.

“Historical ridiculousness”

For the Catalan daily life Sportpro-Barça, Kylian Mbappé “came to Madrid, supposedly, to win titles and be decisive for the team. But since his arrival, the white team has not been strong and the Frenchman has been historically ridiculous for his first Clasico at the Bernabeu.

Also singled out, Carlo Ancelotti remains, as usual, confident and calm, recalling that “the last time Real lost a Clasico 0-4 we won La Liga and the Champions League”. Not sure that the formidable Barcelona team will give him as much latitude this year.