Kylian Mbappe Outshines Lamine Yamal in El Clasico, But Ballon d’Or Battle Has Yet to Come
It was a tale of two Ballon d’Or favorites in Sunday’s El Clásico: Kylian Mbappé silenced the Camp Nou, while Lamine Yamal was held silent in the 265th edition of soccer’s biggest rivalry.
The two stars headlined Spain’s marquee fixture, where three points, bragging rights and potentially even the La Liga title were on the line. The cameras followed their every move, much like the defenders on either side of the pitch and the supporters watching from around the globe.
Yamal is no stranger to upstaging Mbappé. The teenager has helped Barcelona to six wins over Mbappé and Real Madrid in the last two years alone, and he starred for Spain in La Roja’s World Cup semifinal win over France last summer.
This time, though? It was all Mbappé. The Frenchman bagged a brace to lift Real Madrid to a euphoric 2–1 win over bitter rivals Barcelona in Catalonia, blowing the La Liga title race wide open.
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Mbappé Reaches the Century Mark in Style
Mbappé might not have any major trophies to his name since making the move to the Spanish capital, but he has surely found the back of the net. The superstar forward came into Sunday’s clash with 98 goals in a white shirt since he joined the club ahead of the 2024–25 season.
Six of those goals came against Barcelona, but they almost never delivered victories. Mbappé got on the scoresheet in the 2025 Spanish Super Cup final, only for Real Madrid to lose 5–2. Three months later, he scored a stunning free kick in the 2024–25 Copa del Rey final, only for Barcelona to win 3–2 in extra time. He then scored a heroic hat trick in a La Liga title-deciding Clásico, only for his team to lose 4–3 a few weeks later.
Mbappé finally broke the trend in the team’s 2–1 win over the Catalans last October, but it was Jude Bellingham’s winner that got most of the praise.
With the pressure mounting on Los Blancos in 2026–27, Mbappé made sure he would call game this time around. The France international benefited from some luck to open the scoring on Sunday after a poor clearance attempt from Gerard Martín ricocheted off his leg and past Joan García.
As the minutes ticked on, with his team needing a moment of magic to break a 1–1 deadlock, it was Mbappé again, surging forward on the counter and perfectly positioning himself in a pocket of space to rifle home the game winner in the 87th minute.
The goal secured all three points for José Mourinho’s men, got Los Blancos back in the title race and brought Mbappé to 100 goals for Real Madrid—eight of which have now come against Barcelona. The night unquestionably belonged to him.
Yamal Fails to Live Up to His Own Lofty Standards
Much like Mbappé, Yamal knows a thing or two about scoring in El Clásico. After all, he became the youngest goalscorer in the fixture at 17 years and 105 days old when he found the back of the net in Barcelona’s 4–0 rout over Real Madrid back in October 2024.
But on Sunday night, he was neutralized. Yamal wasn’t going up against a battered Real Madrid backline this time around; he was dueling with his fellow countryman Marc Cucurella, one of the best left backs in the world.
Before the match, Yamal boasted: “I’m going to eat him alive.” By the time the final whistle sounded, the player who had been eaten alive was Yamal.
The teenager did not create a single chance or register a single shot on target in 90 minutes on the pitch. Honestly, Yamal might have pumped up the crowd more times than he shot the ball at the Camp Nou.
Cucurella was all over the Spain international, and even on the rare ocassions Yamal got the better of the fullback, he couldn’t make anything happen. The 19-year-old was completely unmarked inside the box, in acres of space and staring at a gaping goal in the 44th minute only to pull his shot horribly wide at the near post.
Now, Yamal was by no means the worst player on the pitch for Barcelona. But in a game of this magnitude and with the Ballon d’Or ceremony just 24 hours away, he completely failed to deliver.
The Ultimate Battle Still Looms Large
By Monday night, there won’t be single person talking about this Clásico. Instead, all the focus will be on soccer’s most prestigious individual honor.
The biggest stars in the game are headed to London, where they will learn the 2026 Ballon d’Or winner. Mbappé and Yamal, along with Harry Kane, are the favorites to win the prize.
Yamal believes he deserves the award after helping Barcelona win La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup, before he lifted the World Cup title with Spain. Mbappé believes he deserves the award for finishing 2025–26 as the top scorer in La Liga, the Champions League and the World Cup.
It remains to be seen which player—if either—will hear their name called out at the London Palladium Theatre. But one thing is for certain: The victor will have much larger bragging rights and widespread acclaim than what comes from an October La Liga fixture.
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