After Kylian Mbappe was a late scratch from the Clasico lineup, the other stars of Real Madrid had a golden opportunity to shine with the Frenchman sulking on the sidelines. Instead, Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham, and the rest of the remaining big names in the side (sans a concussed Fede Valverde) only gave Mbappe the last laugh.
Each of those players was poor for Real Madrid in their 2-0 loss to Barcelona. Only Brahim Diaz, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fran Garcia, and Thibaut Courtois were not outright terrible for Real, and with PSG distinguishing themselves as a team where the team is the star, Real are now a team of no stars in the sense that everyone is terrible.
The problem at Real Madrid clearly goes far beyond Kylian Mbappe, and although Real have been worst these past two seasons with Mbappe in the side and them struggling without him on the pitch does not necessarily dispel the notion that he has destabilized the organization in some way.
Kylian Mbappe will feel vindicated
But the idea that Mbappe is THE biggest problem or that the others are not to blame is easily dispelled, and it was dispelled by Barcelona at the Spotify Camp Nou on Sunday night with the Blaugrana sealing their own title win and Real's trophyless seasons.
Kylian Mbappe is the big winner and the only winner for Real Madrid from this result, simply because everyone so profoundly lost on that pitch. In a way, Mbappe got exactly what he wanted when he pulled out of the squad at the last second, because all Real Madrid did was make him look good.
Real Madrid need to find a way out of all this as a team. The convenient narratives, moles, and scapegoating has to come to an end. Mbappe is not going anywhere any time soon with his wages and now the stigma against him of being a bad team player after the stories from Monaco and PSG have reared their head at France.
Everyone has to be on board to making this work. Mbappe has been a disappointment, but there are players in this squad who have just as big of an ego problem and are half as good, if not worse. The whole world saw that laid to bare on Sunday in El Clasico. You win and lose as a team, and just like Mbappe has been using Vinicius Junior and the established stars as a shield in the media, those holdovers from the Champions League successes of the early 2020s are doing the same.
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