In the tunnel leading to the Bernabeu stadium, there is a message from legend Alfredo Di Stefano printed on the wall: "No player has the strength of a whole team". This is natural in football but at this time it is not true for the Real Madrid team.
There are many big stars of the team who have been booed by home fans this season such as Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham and most recently Kylian Mbappe. Even the powerful owner Florentino Perez himself is under pressure from fans because he is old and the club has just gone 2 consecutive seasons empty-handed.
Not only the boos outside the stadium, Los Blancos' dressing room is also in chaos because of dozens of fights between stars, most recently the case of Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni. In decades, never before have behind-the-scenes scandals surrounded Real Madrid as much and as tense as they are now.
Speaking of Mbappe, he is the most controversial figure, contributing a lot in terms of statistics but always feeling "not enough" to bring success to the team. When the French striker arrived at the Bernabeu, in the context that the club already had stars in attack such as Vinicius, Bellingham or Rodrygo (the people who just won the Champions League), everyone thought Real Madrid would continue to extend their dominance. Unfortunately, everything is going against the curve.
If considering statistics, no one can deny Mbappe's importance at Real Madrid. Since setting foot at the Bernabeu, the French striker has scored 77 goals in all competitions, winning the European Golden Shoe in the 2024-2025 season. Last month when Real was eliminated by Bayern in the Champions League quarter-finals, Mbappe was still considered the almost only player in the entire squad to play true to his class, scoring goals in both the first and second legs.
Mbappe is leading the Champions League top scorer list this season even though Real has been eliminated. 15 goals he scored are 2 goals less than Ronaldo's record in the 2013-2014 season (17 goals). However, this seems still not enough for Real Madrid fans.
Without waiting for the match against Real Oviedo, right in the next home match after being eliminated from the Champions League, Mbappe was booed. Since then, the French striker has been involved in countless bad stories behind the scenes. The 27-year-old star was rumored to have argued directly with a member of the coaching staff on the training ground. Then there was the case of going on vacation in Italy with his girlfriend when everything was very tense.
Everything was so complicated that Mbappe himself had to directly answer interviews about his dissatisfaction with captain Alvaro Arbeloa. According to what this striker shared, Arbeloa only considered him as the 4th option in the attack after Vinicius Jr, Gonzalo Garcia and Franco Mastantuono. Mbappe also sulked and added that he must make even greater efforts to overcome these names, then he will have the opportunity to play.
Facing rumors of no exchange with owner Florentino Perez, Mbappe said there was no conflict at all. The former PSG star sent thanks to "Godfather" for what he had done for the club. Finally, Mbappe briefly declared that he would never leave Real Madrid, anyone who wants to speculate should publicly speak out.
Returning to the question of whether Mbappe has contributed enough to satisfy the fans or not, there will be no precise measure. Since Mbappe arrived at the Bernabeu, the coaching staff with coach Carlo Ancelotti have had doubts about whether the French striker will make the team's playing style stiff. At first, no one realized it clearly, but now everything seems to be true.
In La Liga and Champions League matches this season, Mbappe is the player with the fewest tackles, saves and recovers in 90 minutes. In La Liga, he ranks last (461/461) among the players with the fewest tackles, only about 0.6 times/match.
Mbappe is currently the highest-paid player at Real Madrid but is the only big star who has never won the Champions League. Real Madrid fans once waited for him in 2022, but at that time, Mbappe himself publicly refused and wanted to continue to stick with PSG. Later, when he came with a free price, the waiting and reaction of fans, although still enthusiastic at first, are no longer as before.
