Real Madrid's maddening Kylian Mbappe-centric approach could see them become regular Champions League and La Liga also-rans

It would be unfair not to give Mbappe due credit; he was almost unstoppable in the first half of the season. He scored 27 goals, with four coming in his standout display against Olympiacos in the Champions League to give Real a thrilling 4-3 victory. He also netted the opener in a 2-1 Clasico win over Barcelona in October that sent Los Blancos five points clear at the La Liga summit after 10 games.

Comparisons with Bernabeu icon Cristiano Ronaldo were flooding in at that stage, prompting a humble response from Mbappe. “I want to follow my own path. Being mentioned alongside Cristiano is already an honour, but I just want to make my own way, help the team, and win as many titles as possible,” he told Marca.

Mbappe bagged another eight goals in Real's final eight La Liga outings of 2026, but the debate over whether he was really helping the team was reopened as results took a turn for the worse. Xabi Alonso's men only won four of those games, allowing Barca to storm back and take control of the title race.

After a disappointing Spanish Super Cup final defeat to Barcelona on January 12, which Mbappe missed due to a knee injury, Alonso was sacked, and Real swiftly promoted Alvaro Arbeloa from Castilla coach to first-team boss. However, the dugout switch has done little to arrest the club's slide.

Fast forward to present day, and Barca command a nine-point lead at the top of La Liga with just seven games remaining, while Real are facing an uphill task to progress to the Champions League semi-finals after losing the home leg of their last eight tie against Bayern Munich 2-1. Arbeloa has only overseen one win from the last four matches, with a 2-1 reversal at Mallorca marking their lowest point, and Mbappe's form has dropped off a cliff.

He has just a solitary goal to his name from his last seven club outings, with his shot conversion rate plummeting from a previous high of 25 percent for the 2025-26 campaign to four, per Diario AS. Mbappe appears to have misplaced his shooting boots at the worst possible time for Real.

Indeed, in a disappointing 1-1 draw with Girona at the Bernabeu on Friday, the World Cup winner posted a measly expected goals on target (xGOT) total of 0.14. He also gave the ball away 20 times and won just four of his 17 ground duels, failing to link the play effectively or make a significant contribution out of possession.

It hasn't been all bad for Real under Arbeloa, though. Between late February and late March, they won six of their seven fixtures, beating both Benfica and Manchester City home and away in the Champions League, while thrashing Elche 4-1 in La Liga. Tellingly, Mbappe was absent during this period while being treated for a niggling knee sprain.

Los Blancos also edged out Atletico Madrid 3-2 in a thrilling derby encounter, with Mbappe only playing the final 26 minutes from the bench. Arbeloa switched from a 4-3-3 to a more compact 4-4-2 system with Vinicius and Brahim Diaz leading the line, and Real immediately looked a more balanced side.

Attacking with genuine width, Vinicius recaptured his 2023-24 level, when he finished second in the Ballon d'Or race, and Federico Valverde drove towards the box at every opportunity, backed up impressively by Aurelien Tchouameni. No one was found wanting defensively, either.

In other words, Real played as a team, which simply isn't the case when Mbappe is on the pitch. Arbeloa reverted to the feed Mbappe at all costs game plan against Mallorca and Girona, and Los Blancos picked up one point instead of six. They have no Plan B when opposing teams cut off the supply to the France international, or when he simply has an off-day in front of goal, which is becoming more frequent.

Madrid failed to win a major trophy in Mbappe's debut season, despite his haul of 44 goals. He notched 31 in La Liga alone, close to half of Real's final tally of 78, which was nine less than they managed as a team when winning the trophy in the the previous campaign.

They came apart in the biggest matches, too. Mbappe was completely ineffective in Real's 5-1 aggregate defeat to Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals, and although he found the net five times in his first four Clasicos, Barca won all of them. Real started blindly hoping for moments of magic from Mbappe to get over the line, ditching the blueprint that had also earned them a record-extending 15th European title.

That trend has continued this season, with Mbappe only delivering sporadically. He has scored more goals against Barca and Atletico, and gave Real a lifeline with his effort in the first leg of their Champions League tie against Bayern, but when they went down 1-0 at Liverpool in the league phase, Mbappe was unable to produce a shot on target in a near-anonymous display.

More often than not, when Real have been up against it, Mbappe has folded. He was especially poor in the 2-1 defeat away at Osasuna in February, posting an expected goals total (xG) of 0.3, while failing to complete a dribble or make a single defensive contribution.

The harsh reality is that Real have gone backwards since Mbappe's arrival. Barca are now by far the best team in La Liga, and they could create a dynasty if their arch-rivals don't correct their course.

Luis Enrique famously used NBA legend Michael Jordan to make a point to Mbappe about the importance of defending from the front in the Frenchman's final year at PSG. "Michael Jordan used to grab all his team-mates by the balls and defend like a son of a b*tch," said the PSG boss. "You have to set an example, first as a person and as a player, to go."

It's possible that the PSG boss also gave Dembele that advice when he took over as the team's lead attacker, because the Barcelona flop suddenly became a pressing monster as the Ligue 1 giants stormed to a historic treble in 2024-25. Dembele was also rewarded with his maiden Ballon d'Or, while Mbappe finished seventh in the 2025 vote, having seemingly forgotten Luis Enrique's words after transitioning from Paris to Madrid.

Mbappe doesn't think he needs to work as hard as his team-mates, as he admitted on The Bridge podcast during the March international break: "I'm a player who defends a little less than others, and sometimes that can be a problem. It's true that I do it less, but I notice that when I do, it really impacts the team. At Real Madrid, when I do it, you can see that everyone else is doing it too."

That attitude is precisely why he's never won a Golden Ball or the Champions League. Rather than making a concerted effort to improve that side of his game, Mbappe passes the buck. He's basically suggesting that if the rest of the Real team kept running themselves into the ground, his laziness wouldn't matter.

It matters whatever way he spins it. Madrid's press is too easy to beat because Mbappe neglects to do any closing down, and he doesn't even try to run back. Even more worryingly, he doesn't do his job as a central striker when Real have the ball, moving out wide instead of attacking the penalty area like the club's last great No.9, Karim Benzema, did so brilliantly.

On Wednesday night, Mbappe will once again have his work cut out to try and outshine a superior centre-forward in the form of Harry Kane, provided he recovers from a nasty head cut sustained in the Girona game. Kane was a key reason that Bayern were able to outplay Real at the Bernabeu, and not just because of his lovely sweeping finish from the edge of the box that sealed the 2-1 win.

The England captain also combined beautifully with Serge Gnabry in the build-up to Bayern's opener, created one other big chance, and covered 10.5 kilometres in a typically industrious showing, while Mbappe ran only 9.3. Bayern can count on Kane to be their chief goalscorer and creator safe in the knowledge that he will also put in a shift off the ball.

In stark contrast, Mbappe is all about moments. He's capable of turning a game in an instant, but frustrates just as much as he dazzles. It's not that he lacks the natural instincts of a striker, either, because he made a superb run to the far past to convert a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross late on against Bayern; he just doesn't get himself into those positions often enough.

Arbeloa isn't obliged to start Mbappe. He can push Diaz or Arda Guler through the middle, or bring in Gonzalo Garcia, and Real will function more efficiently. Most Madristas may even welcome Mbappe being relegated to the bench for a spell, if a newly created website counting down the remaining days of the Monaco academy graduate's contract is anything to go by.

Mbappe needs a reality check, that's for sure. If Real crash out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage again, they may be forced to give him one, or start looking for a new frontman.