Are Real Madrid Better Without Kylian Mbappe?

When Real Madrid secured Kylian Mbappé’s signature ahead of the 2024–25 season, the then-reigning European and Spanish champions looked poised for another era of dominance. Nearly two years later, the biggest club in the world is engulfed in an omnipresent crisis.

Exhaustive defensive injuries and former manager Carlo Ancelotti shouldered the blame for Los Blancos’ shortcomings last season. Despite Mbappé’s slow start, it was hardly fair to persecute the Frenchman, who broke just about every scoring record for a player in their debut campaign at the club.

Still, those watching Real Madrid closely enough in 2024–25 could see the warning signs that Mbappé, for all his scoring, fractured what was a cohesive attack. The club, though, deemed a new manager, or four new summer signings or simply just a fresh start the fix it needed to get back on track.

Except the 15-time European champions are no closer to a major trophy 11 months later than they were last year. In fact, they’re worse off—six points adrift in the La Liga title race, down 2–1 to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals, embarrassingly eliminated in the Copa del Rey and runners-up in the Spanish Super Cup again.

Much like last season, there is more than one issue plaguing the team. Turnover in the dugout, a weak midfield and extensive injuries did Real Madrid little favors. But Mbappé is perhaps causing more harm to the Spanish giants than all three of those issues combined.

Mbappé’s Production Is a Smoke Screen

Kylian Mbappé leads Real Madrid in scoring this season. | Guillermo Martinez/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Anyone looking purely at the numbers would scoff at the notion that Mbappé is Real Madrid’s biggest problem. After all, the forward leads the team in scoring with 39 goals across all competitions this season. At one point, he was an early 2026 Ballon d’Or favorite thanks to his production up top.

And he deserves credit for his scintillating start to the season. Mbappé carried Los Blancos to victory on more than one occasion, often finding himself as the only player in white listed on the scoresheet. It’s easy to make the argument that Real Madrid would be even further out of contention without the France international.

It’s also the lazy angle to take, because in the games that mattered most, Mbappé’s production dried up. Sure, he scored four goals against Olympiacos and a hat-trick against Kairat Almaty in Champions League league phase matches. Against Liverpool? He was anonymous.

In losses to Osasuna and Celta Vigo in La Liga? He mustered a combined two shots on target in 180 minutes. Mbappé was more active in a shock defeat to Mallorca, but he still squandered chance after chance and failed to find the back of the net—a performance he essentially repeated against Girona.

Those four matches alone likely cost Real Madrid any chance at stealing the Spanish crown from Barcelona, but Mbappé gets let off easily because his overall numbers paint a compelling picture that the casual observer takes as gospel.

The people that have watched week in and week out for the last two years know not to be fooled.

Mbappé Messes With Real Madrid’s Free-Flowing Attack

Federico Valverde — Real Madrid spread their goalscoring without Kylian Mbappé on the pitch. | Maria Jimenez/Real Madrid/Getty Images

When Mbappé is on the pitch for Real Madrid, he is the focal point of the attack. There’s a hive mind aspect to the team’s soccer when he leads the line: Get the ball to Mbappé.

It’s the only strategy Los Blancos deploy. The midfielders feed Mbappé. Vinicius Junior feeds Mbappé. Trent Alexander-Arnold feeds Mbappé. Everything—and almost everyone—becomes stagnant just to get the Frenchman the ball in hopes that he will make something happen.

And there is no doubt he can make something happen; that is not up for debate. What is, though, is just how bad the team plays when he can’t. When the strategy fails, suddenly Real Madrid are as easy to defend as a relegation-battling side.

Need proof? Watch how bottom-of-the-table Mallorca completely neutralized a team with some of the biggest names in the sport.

Without Mbappé on the pitch, Real Madrid spread the ball, stretching defenses to create gaps for Vinicius Junior or Federico Valverde or even Aurélien Tchouaméni to exploit. The three players scored 13 of the team’s 16 goals in the span of seven games without Mbappé in the XI.

They were held quiet in the first two games that Mbappé returned to the starting lineup. Against Bayern, Valverde and Tchouaméni registered just one combined shot. Why? Because they are victims to the chanting inside their head: Get the ball to Mbappé.

Questions Persist About Mbappé’s Role at Real Madrid

Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappé — Vinicius Junior (left) and Kylian Mbappé have yet to master the art of playing alongside one another. | Diego Souto/Getty Images

Anyone can go on for hours about Mbappé’s poor work rate off the ball. It’s well publicized, well covered and even the player himself admits he does less defensive work than others in white. The issue stems back to his days at Paris Saint-Germain, and it clearly isn’t going away anytime soon.

Not only is it overplayed to harp on Mbappé’s refusal to press or track back, but it’s also fairly hypocritical, considering Vinicius Jr hardly does either with consistency.

The bigger problem is Mbappé’s refusal to make runs into the box. The 27-year-old is either sitting at the edge of the area, waiting for someone to pass him the ball, or he’s drifting to either wing. He’s hardly ever inside the box, where a No. 9 should be.

This picture of Kylian Mbappé goes hard. pic.twitter.com/sdxNAdN0Wr
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) March 27, 2026

He’s not a natural No. 9? O.K., fine. He’s not. But guess what? At Real Madrid, he’s a No. 9. He is not Cristiano Ronaldo on the left wing or Gareth Bale on the right. In this system, the way Los Blancos are set up, he is Karim Benzema.

Vinicius Junior won a Champions League by starting alongside Benzema. He also won one with Jude Bellingham playing as a false nine. The Brazilian knows how to win on the grandest of stages so long as there is a player next to him, crashing the box, making runs in behind and complimenting his style of play.

But now, Vinicius Jr has to compliment Mbappé’s style of play—and all that has gotten Real Madrid is an empty trophy case.

Real Madrid’s Record Tells a Damning Story

What does it say about Mbappé that Real Madrid played their best soccer of the season when he was out injured? When the ex-PSG star retreated to the infirmary to finally deal with his nagging knee issue, Los Blancos won six of their seven matches, taking down Benfica, Manchester City twice and Atlético Madrid along the way.

As soon as Mbappé returned to Álvaro Arbeloa’s XI, the team lost back-to-back matches and then only mustered a 1–1 draw with Girona.

In La Liga this season, Real Madrid won four of their five games without Mbappé, scoring 15 goals. Why? Because everyone is free to get involved and work as a cohesive unit without the France international taking up all the oxygen.

As for the Champions League, Los Blancos won two of three matches without Mbappé. For all the numbers-people out there, that’s six wins in the eight games without the forward available in the two competitions that matter most.

There’s a common problem here, one that is not going to be solved no matter who the club brings in to reinforce their defense and midfield this summer. Mbappé does not fit at the Bernabéu—and it’s time for Real Madrid to stop fooling themselves.

Mbappé’s Production Is a Smoke Screen

Mbappé Messes With Real Madrid’s Free-Flowing Attack

Questions Persist About Mbappé’s Role at Real Madrid

Real Madrid’s Record Tells a Damning Story

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