Real Madrid Transfers: The penalty miss will be part of Kylian Mbappe’s Galactico origin story

By now, we have all replayed the closing events of the Euro 2020 Round of 16 fixture between France and Switzerland in our minds hundreds of times. Real Madrid fans have since rallied around Kylian Mbappe, though a few Madridistas have pretended to turn on the PSG superstar as a tongue-in-cheek social media ploy to get the Parisians to part ways with him.

Mbappe’s reputation has taken a hit to the casual observers, and those who relish tearing down great young talents – largely because they have accomplished nothing of merit in their own lives and are miserable people – have been just as vocal. They are riding the train of exaggerated claims about Mbappe, even going as far as calling a World Cup winner and record-breaking Champions League goal-scorer a fraud.

There is only one player who I have seen receive this kind of vitriol and criticism from fans, and that is Cristiano Ronaldo. Mbappe is being targeted in a way similar to his idol, as he already lives rent-free in the heads of those who cannot stand greatness. Nor can they have some empathy in seeing a “great one” fall, showing his flawed human touch.

That penalty miss, combined with Mbappe’s failure to score in the tournament despite his best efforts, are all a part of the journey. There is no zenith without a corresponding nadir, and if there has been a low-point in the already-illustrious career of Kylian Mbappe, then it was that weak effort to Yann Sommer’s right in the European Championships. For all the marbles, Mbappe could not do what his idol, Cristiano, has done time after time. He could not convert.

Kylian Mbappe was built to be a superstar at Real Madrid

But Mbappe is 22. He won the World Cup, but he also lost a Champions League Final in which his finishing touch went missing on multiple occasions. We would be having very different conversations about Mbappe’s future with regards to Paris and Madrid, had he kept a cooler head against Bayern Munich.

That’s the thing, though. He didn’t. And here is where Real Madrid comes in. Mbappe has never shied away from the spotlight, the responsibility, or the pressure. He wants it all. At PSG, though, the spotlight is not fully his. The full-on pressure every week is not the same. Just as Cristiano faced a step up in pressure and responsibility when he went from Manchester United to Real Madrid, Mbappe wants to have that same responsibility each week.

Mbappe is built differently from so many players. He values winning, but he values winning in the specific way in which he is the one at the center of the project and contributing to the consistent excellence of a side. With PSG, he does not have the right culture to do that. And France has been a similar case, with the additional caveat that the national team setup does not give players a chance to imprint themselves frequently.

So that penalty miss against Switzerland was just one miss at face value. In any other situation, we would have glossed over it. But that it came at THAT moment and from THIS player with all he is involved in, Mbappe’s miss is a sign that there will be a redemption arch. There will be a character change. This was a defining moment in a young career destined for the all-time history books, and it is a moment that will take on added significance for the rest of the summer.

That miss is a sign of a move to Real Madrid. It is a signifier of a path that must be taken for Mbappe to be all he can be. It is the true end of the beginning of his chapter. The final big moment of an origin story that will one day be footballer folklore.