Author of a double against Las Palmas on Sunday (4-1 victory), Kylian Mbappé was warmly praised by the Madrid press, who see him as the new “leader” of Real Madrid.
“The leader is Mbappé.” In Madrid, the Madrid newspapers AS and Marca agreed on their front pages the day after Real Madrid's victory against Las Palmas (4-1): they all praised the performance of Kylian Mbappé, author of a double. The influence of the French player can be seen even in the opposing Catalan press, which points out that his performance today allows Real to be leader of La Liga.
“Real Madrid climbs to the top of the rankings with a recital from the French crack,” supports Marca, who chose a photo of Mbappé point raised to illustrate his point. It is with Mbappé celebrating his goal that AS prefers to headline, adding: “The Frenchman scores two goals and helps the others to return Real to first place in La Liga.”
“Ancelotti’s Real is already Mbappé’s Real”
But of the two local newspapers, it is Marca which is the most impressed by the performance of the Habs. A series of editorials to his glory blacken the columns of the daily: “Mbappé makes the Bernabéu vibrate and rises like the penalty taker”, “The best Mbappé is better than all the others”, “Mbappé, on his way to the 40 goals”, “Mbappé wants a fight for the Pichichi trophy”…
“Mbappé scored two goals in the first half, participated in another goal, had a goal disallowed, hit the post, shot five times and only lost one ball after 33 interventions and 15 good passes. A festival that the Bernabéu celebrated,” lists the Madrid newspaper.
More dithyrambicly, the newspaper's vice director Juan Ignacio Garcia-Ochoa wrote: “Ancelotti's Real is already Mbappé's Real: the Frenchman continues to improve with each match and has already reached a level where he is better than anyone else.” “Mbappé is already showing that he is the star that everyone was waiting for,” he insists, ensuring that Bernabeu supporters “breath a sigh of relief” after the Frenchman’s performance.
-“Mbappé operated with notorious intelligence”
AS for its part stands out with an editorial highlighting its good performance but also the more complementary performance of Rodrygo. “Two of them stood out: Mbappé and Rodrygo. The former's performance is not exclusively linked to his new love affair with the goal, nor to his exceptional technical skills, power and verticality. Mbappé operated with notorious intelligence, under a catalog of movements from the best center forward in the world.”
“His escapes between full-backs and central defenders, his support in central areas and his sense of movement in the penalty area won over the players and helped improve the dynamism of the team,” underlines Javier Silles, vice-director of the newspaper.
In Catalonia too, we salute “the leader of the leader”
On the Catalan side, Mbappé's performance was also briefly praised, with Sport writing on its front page: “Kylian Mbappé takes Real Madrid to the place of leader of La Liga.” “Mbappé is the leader's leader, it took him months to become one, but he is already there with everything he represents for Real Madrid,” the newspaper continues.
Mundo Deportivo wanted to be more moderate and described Mbappé as “a player who pulls Real's offensive sector upwards”: “In the absence of Vinicius, suspended, and with Rodrygo as a dance partner, the former player of PSG played their most complete match in every way: they showed their trademark power and speed, were undetectable for the island defense thanks to their poisonous mobility and wreaked havoc every time that he touched the ball, whether to offload with subtle touches or to unbalance in one-on-ones.”
