The Madrileño will have to turn the tide in Munich this Wednesday in the Champions League quarter-final return leg to avoid a blank season.
“I believe that there is no better place to win titles,” Kylian Mbappé was right on the day of his presentation in Madrid on July 16, 2024. Yet, almost two years later, his words ring oddly. Real Madrid, beaten at home by Bayern Munich last week (1-2), are on the edge before their Champions League quarter-final return leg at the Allianz Arena this Wednesday (9pm). If they do not overturn the Bavarian side, an extremely rare blank season awaits them, as the title in La Liga, the only other competition left for the Merengue, seems destined for FC Barcelona (9 points ahead with 7 games left).
This is not what Mbappé had in mind when he joined the kings of European football, who have 15 Champions League trophies in their cabinet, including 6 between 2014 and 2024. Initially, in his first season in the Spanish capital, the French team captain was content with a UEFA Super Cup and an Intercontinental Cup. To make matters worse, Paris Saint-Germain, whom he faced many times in the Champions League from 2017 to 2024, won the Champions League at the first opportunity after his departure.
Alvaro Arbeloa before the quarter-final return leg: “If one team can win in Munich, it’s Real Madrid.”
“This holds more to the collective performance than individual talent,” said Alvaro Arbeloa, Real Madrid’s coach, about the persistent difficulties of the Madrid team.
His injury was a “dramatic loss” in the eyes of the Madrid press. Missing a few matches here and there allowed him to recover, “100%,” in his own words. Since then, his struggles have taken over. Mbappé has only scored once in his last seven matches with Real. “He’s losing himself,” alarmed Marca, recognizing that it goes beyond his personal case. “We need to improve a lot of things collectively, especially against teams that wait for us, give us little space, and don’t attack much,” analyzed Alvaro Arbeloa, Real’s coach since January 12. “It’s something that still gives us trouble, and I think it’s more about collective performance than individual talent.”
Save the Madrid season
The presence of the former defender on the bench illustrates the challenging period Real is going through, where his predecessor, Xabi Alonso, only had six months to prove himself, not a day more. Mbappé was “a constant threat” against Bayern, according to Arbeloa, and even scored on a precise cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold (74th min). Much more will be needed to shake the future German champions (potentially this weekend) in their den, equipped with a rejuvenated Manuel Neuer, 40, living a second youth.
Mbappé will still have to break this wall, even if the context is far from ideal. Last Friday, the world champion received an elbow from defender Vitor Reis during the draw against Girona (1-1). Open eyebrow cut, bloody face, and stitches upon arrival. Absent from training on Sunday “as a precaution,” according to his club, he returned on Monday with a bandage. The “best player in the world,” as Arbeloa claims, also secretly aims to break a Ronaldo record, that of the most goals in a Champions League campaign (17, against the current 14 by the Frenchman).
Achieving this would surely mean a major feat for the Merengue, many of whom were condemned even before setting foot in Bavaria. Achieving this could possibly save the Madrid season as much as possible before, for Kylian Mbappé, changing gears for the main event of his year, the World Cup (June 11 – July 19). Perhaps the climax after a dream spring. Or more likely, an escape to forget the troubles.
