All is not as it seems in paradise. To the casual observer, Real Madrid has never had it so good. In June, the club added a 15th European Cup to its trophy cabinet, an incredible haul. They also did the double last season, winning the Spanish league title. In fact, Madrid are 42 games unbeaten in La Liga, one short of a record set by Barça’s Messi side in 2018. In the summer, after one of the longest courtships in football, they added Kylian Mbappé to the roster. This prompted 80,000 fans to queue, braving the scorching Madrid heat, for his unveiling at the newly air-conditioned Santiago Bernabéu. The fervour was palpable inside the stadium as if a god had descended from the clouds.
Year by year, Real Madrid have carefully rebuilt their squad, replacing the old guard, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema and Co – which won three consecutive Champions League trophies from 2016-18 – with fresh blood. Today, they boast the most expensive squad on the planet, spearheaded by three of the world’s five best players – Mbappé, Vinícius Junior and Jude Bellingham. On the bench, they have players that can each decide matches: Brahim Díaz; the thrilling Turkish playmaker Arda Güler; and Endrick, an 18-year-old Brazilian striker with dynamite in his boots.
The problem for Real Madrid’s coach, Carlo Ancelotti, is an embarrassment of riches. He’s struggling to fit the pieces of the jigsaw together. He has shoehorned three left-sided attacking players into the team’s starting XI – Mbappé and Vinícius alternate between playing in the middle and on the left; Rodrygo de Goes is forced to accommodate himself on the right flank. In August, Rodrygo complained online he’s feeling unloved at the club. He wants to add the “R of Rodrygo” to the BMV acronym (ie Bellingham, Mbappé, Vinícius) doing the rounds in the press and on social media.
Rodrygo isn’t the only diva in the dressingroom. Next Monday, barring some unforeseen circumstance, Vinícius will be anointed with the Ballon d’Or award, bringing the curtain down on a 15-year period that was dominated by the reign of Messi/Ronaldo. But uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. Vinícius, who turned 24 in July, is a highly strung young man. He has a personal staff of 12, including a chef, driver, manager and two assistants to his manager, who presumably spend much of their time puffing up cushions whenever Vinícius enters a room.
Last month, Vinícius took to social media with a cri de coeur, wailing that he no longer has the support he used to enjoy at the club. He feels “increasingly alone” (despite his large entourage). He elaborated, suggesting he only has one ally left at Real Madrid. He didn’t need to name the person. Everyone knew he was referring to Ancelotti. The arrival of Mbappé to Madrid has stolen some of his thunder. The late Johan Cruyff – the revolutionary football thinker and a multiple Ballon d’Or winner – used to say that a ship can’t have two captains.
Mbappé (25) has his problems to contend with. It has taken him a while to get motoring – he had to wait until his fourth league game to score in La Liga; of his six goals in nine league games, three have come from the penalty spot. Off the field, a bomb exploded last week when Aftonbladet, a Swedish tabloid newspaper, reported he was under investigation for allegedly raping a woman at a hotel in Stockholm. Other media outlets, including SVT, the Swedish public broadcaster, added details to the story. Citing documents it has seen, SVT maintains Mbappé is “reasonably suspected” of rape, the lower level of suspicion under Swedish law.
Mbappé was quick to respond. Within hours of the Aftonbladet breaking the story, which did not mention him specifically, he posted a message in French on X (formerly Twitter) claiming there was nothing to see: “FAKE NEWS! It’s becoming so predictable, just before the hearing as if by chance,” adding a “winking” emoji. Mbappé was suggesting the rape allegation was fabricated on the eve of a tribunal in Paris regarding €55 million due to him from Paris Saint-Germain in unpaid wages. PSG were indignant at the allusion. When quizzed a few days later about Mbappé's predicament, Ancelotti replied: “I don’t see him affected at all.”
What is affecting Ancelotti is Real Madrid’s indifferent form. Although unbeaten in the league, Real Madrid picked up three early draws, dropping valuable points, and suffered an embarrassing 1-0 defeat to Lille in the Champions League. During the week, their supporters booed the team at half-time – not for the first time this season – after a sluggish performance. Losing 2-0 to Borussia Dortmund at the break, they staged a comeback, winning 5-2. But miracles on European nights at the Bernabéu are no longer a surprise.
Last season, Real Madrid had a free shot. The team retired its number 9 jersey for the season when Benzema surprisingly left in the summer of 2023 for the riches on offer in Saudi Arabia. They suffered three cruciate knee ligament injuries at the start of the season to key players – Thibaut Courtois, David Alaba and Eder Militao. No one expected the team to end its season in glory at Wembley. This season is different. Expectations are sky-high. Failure isn’t an option.
Yet the team lacks vim. They are winning games through force, or moments of individual brilliance, rather than by brilliant team football. The goals have dried up for Bellingham, pushed back to midfield to accommodate Mbappé. Bellingham scored 10 goals this time last season. He is scoreless this season. The city of Madrid is in mourning the retirement of Toni Kroos. Real Madrid no longer have a quarterback. Ancelotti has tried five different players in his position. The most effective has been Luka Modrić, who spent last season as a 12th man. Last weekend, Modrić broke a record dating back to 1966 by overtaking Ferenc Puskás as Real Madrid’s oldest player. The 39-year-old Modrić can’t be a long-term solution.
Ancelotti’s tinkering is testing the nerves of club president Florentino Pérez, a notoriously impatient man. Last weekend against Celta Vigo, Ancelotti played with a five-man defence, as the team, carrying so many attack-minded players, has been leaking goals. However, the manager abandoned the experiment halfway through the game. Real Madrid were lucky to escape with a 2-1 win. Courtois has been Real Madrid’s best player so far this season, which paints its own picture. The team has lost its spiritual leader, Dani Carvajal, who suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury against Villarreal earlier in the month. At 32 years of age, it’s difficult to see him returning to the starting XI again.
On Saturday night, Real Madrid will face its sternest test so far this season. Barça are resurgent, emboldened by new coach Hansi Flick’s bet on youth, tenacious pressing and a more vertical style of play that has the team scoring for fun. The Catalans lead La Liga, three points ahead of Real Madrid. A defeat for Madrid by their eternal rivals would open up a significant six-point gap in the title race and resurrect ghosts from the David Beckham galáctico era at Real Madrid, a time of unbalanced football team selection and egos run amok 20 years ago, a fiasco the club must be careful not to repeat.
