Real Madrid and Kylian Mbappé struggles - How does Carlo Ancelotti solve his problems?

Once the delirium surrounding Kylian Mbappé’s arrival at Real Madrid diminished, the attention switched onto how Carlo Ancelotti would fit the French superstar into his starting line-up. Ancelotti has adopted various systems but the scrutiny on Mbappe’s integration at Madrid has intensified in recent weeks with the Spanish giants struggling. Madrid have incredibly conceded seven goals in their last two games in damaging home defeats to Barcelona and AC Milan. 

Madridistas were furious after Barca humiliated them 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu in El Clasico with Mbappé's role increasingly under the spotlight. Barca’s blistering start in La Liga under Hansi Flick has them nine points ahead of their arch rivals, albeit Madrid have one game in hand. But incredibly, Madrid are in serious danger of failing to secure automatic qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League as they bid to defend their crown. After losing 3-1 to AC Milan, Madrid sit 18th in the league phase with pressure mounting on Ancelotti with disconcerting voices growing. 

Real Madrid’s form compared - 23/24 vs 24/25 season

The 2023/24 campaign was incredibly successful for Real Madrid as they won yet another Champions League title and La Liga. Vinicius Jr inspired them to glory against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final and they eased to the La Liga title. The addition of Mbappé - the top Champions League top-scorer last season - was widely viewed as a cheat code to an already exceptional unit but Madrid’s cohesion hasn’t been the same since his arrival. 

As the graphic above illustrates, Madrid’s form has dropped from last season since Mbappé joined - the 25-year-old has featured in every game for Real except from the 1-1 draw in the Madrid derby. Los Blancos’ win record with Mbappé stands at 67%, which is a drop of 9% from last season’s total of 76%. Glaringly, Madrid have lost 20% of their 15 games with Mbappé - three defeats to Lille, Barcelona and AC Milan - compared to just 4% across last season. Madrid have also scored less goals, conceded more goals and have a lower points per game record, so how does Ancelotti fix the issues?

Carlo Ancelotti’s tactical dilemma at Real Madrid?

The biggest conundrum for Ancelott is fitting Mbappé into his starting eleven without disrupting the balance of his side. Ancelotti is renowned for his exceptional man management skills and his relationship with his players but that will now truly be put to the test given the profile and ego of Madrid’s star players. Despite his individual struggles, Mbappé isn’t going to be dropped given the financial outlay to bring him to Spain but there’s already speculation that his camp are unhappy that he’s been used as a No.9. 

Mbappe prefers playing from the left but that’s problematic due to Vinicius Jr’s role as explained earlier this week by Madrid icon Karim Benzema. "The problem is that Mbappé is not a central striker, even with the national team, every time he plays as a number nine he doesn't feel right, because that's not his position," Benzema said. "On the left, he's got a guy who's at the same level as him, Vinicius, so there is a problem. You can't play Vinicius as a number nine or on the right, because when he plays on the left he makes the difference in every game. Mbappé isn't a real number nine. People ask a lot of him and he's under a lot of pressure, this isn't Paris Saint-Germain."

 

Vinicius remains Madrid’s best player and moving him from his preferred position would cause major disruption in the dressing room. Realistically, Mbappé will need to adapt his game to thrive as a centre forward but he doesn’t represent the only issue for Ancelotti. Jude Bellingham thrived as an advanced midfielder in his debut season but he’s been displaced and he’s struggling for form. Bellingham scored 23 goals and provided 13 assists last season but he’s yet to score this campaign with just three assists. Ancelotti has experimented with different tactical approaches to accommodate his attacking talent but the 4-4-2 against AC Milan with Bellingham and Valverde wide didn’t work - Valverde’s wife also took aim at the Italian for playing him wide. There’s clearly not complete harmony at Madrid with Rodrygo, Arda Güler and Endrick frustrated with their gametime. Toni Kroos’ absence has been felt with Aurélien Tchouaméni whistled off against AC Milan as his poor form continued, while Dani Carvajal’s injury has caused more issues at right-back. 

Kylian Mbappe’s form since joining Real Madrid form 

The Frenchman hasn’t been in scintillating form since joining Madrid but he’s still registered a respectable eight goals in 15 games. Mbappé’s scoring rate has dropped to 0.58 goals per 90 minutes compared to 1.02 last season at PSG. Mbappe has only provided 2 assists at 0.15 per 90 minutes which again is a drop off from 0.23 last season. How to deploy Mbappé effectively while maintaining balance will be Ancelotti’s biggest managerial dilemma this season. While many thought Mbappe would enhance an already brilliant team, others predicted the issues that Madrid are currently experiencing. And they’ll need to improve quickly with Barcelona flying in La Liga and two tough Champions League away trips to Liverpool and Atalanta on the horizon.