Kylian Mbappé’s remarkable Clasico debut: Eight offsides, some big misses and a lack of confidence

The date was November 24, 2018.

When referee Juan Martinez Munuera blew the whistle at full-time, he was disappointed Real Madrid team went to the tunnel after a 3-0 La Liga defeat at Eibar, a match in which Karim Benzema was flagged for offside seven times, equaling a league record of Elche‘s Jonathas de Jesus May 2015.

Nearly six years later, Kylian MbappeBenzema’s long-term replacement went one better by taking the unwanted record against another team in red and blue. Only this was in El Clasico, in front of almost 80,000 spectators at the Bernabéu and millions of people worldwide, when Real Madrid slumped to a 4-0 defeat.

Mbappé’s first Clásico was the subject of hype as he scored six goals in four games against Barcelonaincluding a hat-trick at Camp Nou. He also usually performs in big games, with three goals in five games against his current employers in the league Champions Leaguefour goals in two World Cup finals France and 38 in 52 combined Ligue 1 matches against Marseille, Lyon, Monaco and Lille.

On Saturday, Barca’s high line was expected to offer him opportunities as he and partner Vinicius Junior timed their runs, given their superior pace compared to Barcelona’s defenders.

A simple strategy on paper, but Mbappe struggled due to the combination of the occasion, underdeveloped chemistry with his teammates and outright looseness.

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From kick-off on Saturday, Madrid’s approach was clear.

Their defenders kicked the ball onto the pitch, allowing Mbappe, Vinicius Jr. and Judas Bellingham to win their duels.

If they lost the ball in the first phase, the physicality of Federico Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni And Eduardo Camavinga gave them the upper hand against Barcelona’s front six. All three of Madrid’s midfielders can also play through the press with quick passes, and this combination of qualities worried Barca throughout the first half.

The final pieces of the puzzle were well-timed runs and a guaranteed finish, but two offsides in the opening 90 seconds of the match suggested this was easier said than done.

The second saw Camavinga slip Mbappé backwards into the large gap between them Jules Kondewary of Vinicius Jr, and Inigo Martinez after Pau Cubarsi stepped up to close Camavinga. Mbappe raced through but his finish was poor as he dragged the ball wide.

In the next 12 minutes, Mbappe contributed twice without the ball, crossing higher than he has ever done this season to force Martinez to go long and help his team regain possession. He also delivered a long pass from Eder Militao before passing the ball wide to Vinicius Jr. squirt to trigger an attack.

Mbappé’s willingness to contribute was evident and his work off the ball laid the foundation for his side’s approach to the game.

Then came the third offside, indicating he had not learned from the previous moments.

Vinicius Jr. Kounde moved to the right again and while Cubarsi did not push forward, Mbappé found space between Barcelona’s two centre-backs. Mbappe looked over his shoulder, but started his run a little too early from Camavinga’s pass.

He was flagged for offside after squaring the ball for Bellingham, who forced a fantastic save from Inaki Pena…

More off-ball pressure on Martinez set up another Barcelona turnover, before the most notable of Mbappé’s eight offsides arrived in the 19th minute. On this occasion too, he looked over his shoulder but made a premature break to meet Bellingham’s hooked pass from the right wing.

Six minutes later, Barça sidelined him again. On this occasion, Mbappé got himself back onside but continued to look at the ball, failing to notice Cubarsi taking an extra step forward. When Ferland Mendy played him in from the left, he was a few centimeters ahead of the back line.

However, Mbappé came closer to the solution and seemed to have done so after half an hour.

A search ball out Antonio Rudiger found Luke Vazquez on the right flank. Mbappé was noticeably offside when Vazquez received the ball, but followed back Alejandro Balde concluded the Madrid captain. A few touches later, Vazquez released Mbappé between and behind the centre-backs, and he raced forward before finishing with a deft chip…

… only after Madrid’s joy was cut short following a VAR check.

This was the closest, as the semi-automatic replay below suggests. Interestingly enough, Vinicius Jr. his doubts when the goal was scored, as suggested by his initial hesitation (see above) to join in the celebrations.

The marginal nature of the call suggests that Vazquez, who had time and space thanks to Bellingham’s positioning, could have played the pass earlier.

Three minutes later, another long ball from the home defense caused Barcelona problems. Mbappe won the one-on-one against Cubarsi and raced forward, only for Martinez to come back and tap the ball back for a corner.

That was the striker’s last telling contribution of the half as the teams went into the break.

Madrid had created openings but, as the expected goals (xG) graph below shows, offside had rendered them largely meaningless with their xG not too far away from Barcelona’s despite the visitors noting much.

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The second half offered Madrid the chance to build on their dominance and four minutes later Mbappé made a well-timed run from behind Cubarsi to hold a pass from Vazquez on the counter. His first ball contact was slightly heavy, allowing Cubarsi to put the ball behind for a corner. But this was encouraging for the Frenchman and his side.

However, that optimism quickly evaporated.

In the 54th minute the first signs of problems with Mbappé’s pressure were visible. A half-hearted attempt to quit Marc Casado left the Barca midfielder strolling into space and looking for the needle to find Robert Lewandowski in Barcelona’s first successful attempt to play through Madrid.

Lewandowski, who was onside due to Mendy’s poor positioning, was clinical with his finish. The visitors led 1-0.

Two minutes later, more tepid pressure high up the pitch and a neat passing move from Barcelona – made possible by the substitute’s calmness on half-time Frenkie de Jong – saw Lewandowski score again from a cross from Balde.

Now 2-0 down, Madrid’s backs were against the wall, but nothing of note emerged until the 61st minute when Mbappe conjured his first legitimate shot of the match. Receiving a pass from Camavinga on the left, he cut inside on his favored right foot before firing a low shot straight at Pena.

A second shot followed three minutes later, after another well-timed point from Mbappé between Cubarsi and Martinez. He grabbed Vinicius Jr.’s pass. from the left flank to descend on goal, but Pena came far from his line and reduced the angle.

Instead of taking him around or lifting him over him, Mbappé shot straight at Pena the first time.

Mbappe’s involvement grew, but his struggle with the offside trap returned in the 66th minute.

After a mischeck Rafinha in Madrid’s defensive third, Vazquez found Valverde, who was immediately eliminated by Dani Olmo. Mbappé remained offside during both actions.

Valverde initially looks up and sees Mbappé (as well as Vinicius Jr and Bellingham) still in an offside position, allowing Olmo to apply more pressure. With no other options, he played the only pass available: to the Frenchman. Mbappe then finished the action with a shot into Pena’s far corner, but was again flagrantly offside.

Mbappe’s third and final shot of the match came in the 71st minute.

After Olmo lost the ball in his own half, Luka Modric lifted the ball over the backline and found Mbappé, who timed his run onto Martinez’s blind side perfectly to create another one-on-one chance. This time Pena stayed closer to the edge of the six-yard box and challenged Mbappe to beat him at both posts.

Mbappe chose the far post but his execution was poor as Pena saved again without breaking a sweat.

Mbappe’s final involvement in the match came in the opening seconds of stoppage time, a near-perfect example of how Madrid imagined their original game plan would play out.

Bellingham drew Cubarsi forward for a long ball, which went over both and into the path of Vinicius Jr. ended up. He turned Kounde comfortably on the halfway line before finding Mbappé on the left flank. Mbappe raced through to force a save from Pena at the post, but a clever backwards dart from Martinez allowed Cubarsi to recover and re-set the offside trap.

The result? The assistant referee’s flag was raised again, meaning twelve fouls for the hosts and eight for Mbappé alone…

Between Mbappé’s final shot and the final offside, Barcelona had scored twice. The first was a thunderous close-range effort Lamine Yamalpartly reminiscent of Mbappe’s first goal from his hat-trick at Camp Nou in 2021. The second was a deft chip from Raphinha, who easily broke through Madrid’s last line of defense with a long ball after they had sent men forward.

Those goals epitomized what Madrid needed from Mbappe that night, but he could never combine both.

Sometimes opportunity and perhaps eagerness to impress seemed to overcome him; at others he simply did not show the confidence that many associate with his play, especially in front of goal. Being on the wrong side of those margins does not go unpunished in competitions of such a large scale.

There is also the matter of synergy with his new teammates, which will improve over time. The match against Barcelona is notable for the amount of offside, but it is worth noting that Mbappe was caught offside at least once in seven of his nine La Liga games before Saturday.

As a team, Madrid have only been sidelined 24 times this season, with Mbappe contributing 17 times. Vinicius Jr was sidelined twice against Barcelona, ​​but only once before all season. The Brazilian has been smart with his runs, knowing when his teammates will release the ball and realizing he can beat most defenders with his pace.

For this partnership to work on the biggest stages – especially given the duo’s limitations in running the press – Mbappé will need to develop a similar in-game intelligence, on top of improved chemistry with his teammates. He will also need to tone down his profligacy when opportunities arise, with his six league goals this season coming from an xG of 7.7.

Playing for Madrid was Mbappé’s ultimate dream. Now that we realize that, the hardest part of the job now begins.

(Top photo: David Ramos/Getty Images)