Kylian Mbappe: The bitter taste of hat-trick from World Cup to El Clasico

Like the 2022 World Cup final, Kylian Mbappe scored a hat-trick in the Clasico but was left with the bitter taste of defeat.

Another version of Mbappe

Barcelona have caught opponents offside more times than any other team after 34 rounds of La Liga 2024/25: 164. The gap between the next two teams, Las Palmas and Osasuna, both with 92, shows the importance of this number.

Ahead of the Clasico, this data is even more remarkable when combined with another statistic: Kylian Mbappe is the most offside player in the tournament, with 39 times. Behind him is Sevilla's Lukebakio (23).

Mbappe had his most effective El Clasico individually. Photo: EFE

In the first leg at Bernabeu, Real Madrid fell into Barca's offside trap 12 times, with Mbappe alone accounting for 8 times.

In Montjuic, in a match considered Real Madrid's last chance in the title race, coach Carlo Ancelotti significantly solved this problem: only 5 offsides, 2 belonging to Mbappe.

There were times when Real Madrid found a way to break Barca's offside trap, which helped Mbappe have his best Clasico since arriving in Spain.

The former PSG player had 5 shots, 4 of which were accurate and scored 3 goals. A truly impressive performance.

Ancelotti's solution was clear: no more long passes for Mbappe to run into, but to push the ball forward for the second-line players to run forward, only looking for "Kiki" when the offside trap had been broken.

The penalty was a bit fortunate because of Pau Cubarsi's mistake. The next two moves were really outstanding: Vinicius set up Mbappe to finish comfortably when Barca's defense was left behind.

Mbappe went on a streak of 3 consecutive scoring matches with 6 goals, 4 of which came in 2 El Clasico matches.

It was the second time this season that the 26-year-old has performed at a truly high level, having previously scored a hat-trick against Man City in the second leg of the Champions League play-offs.

Mbappe made history for Real Madrid but was also associated with tragedy. Photo: RMCF

After being booed in the 1-2 loss to Arsenal, as well as the match with Bilbao where he only sat in the stands, Mbappe is maintaining the scoring performance that Real Madrid and president Florentino Perez expected.

“Kiki” scored a historic hat-trick, becoming the player with the best record for a Real Madrid debut – 39 goals. He also showed his love for the Barca goal: 11 goals in 8 meetings, with 8 goals scored right in Catalunya.

Hat-trick and nightmare

Mbappe set a scoring record in Real Madrid's 123-year history, and also became the first player to have 2 hat-tricks on Barcelona's field (first in 2021, with PSG).

There were many “firsts” that Mbappe achieved in the Clasico on the evening of May 11, but not all values ​​were positive.

Mbappe is the first player in El Clasico history, with 261 official matches, to suffer defeat despite scoring a hat-trick.

Before that, 24 different players had scored a total of 28 hat-tricks, and always ended in at least a draw. Before Mbappe, the last two hat-tricks were both Real Madrid players: Karim Benzema (2023) and Vinicius (2024), leading to 4-0 and 4-1 wins respectively.

The fourth consecutive El Clasico defeat to Barca reminded Mbappe of the nightmare in Qatar on December 18, 2022. That day, he scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final, but France still lost to Argentina in the penalty shootout.

Ancelotti falls into the same situation as Didier Deschamps. Building an attacking plan around Mbappe reduces the collective value. This is the opposite of Barca, where Lamine Yamal is the center to move the team forward.

Winner Hansi Flick consoles Mbappe. Photo: EFE

France's failure at EURO 2024 also happened in this way. Mbappe had a lackluster tournament, "Les Bleus" lost to Lamine Yamal's Spain.

The statistics show this imbalance: Mbappe accounted for 56% of Real Madrid's shots in El Clasico – five times, no one else in the team had more than one; 80% of shots on target belonged to the French star.

It's no coincidence that PSG reached the Champions League final and is the only team in Europe still with a chance to win the treble in Mbappe's first season away.

From the 2022 World Cup to EURO 2024, and now at Real Madrid, Mbappe has become an island in the middle of the team. So, despite scoring goals, he still has to bow down to Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal - who know how to help their teammates shine.

Xabi Alonso is on his way to the Bernabeu. He needs Real Madrid to buy more quality “satellites” to avoid falling into an imbalance like this season.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/kylian-mbappe-vi-dang-hat-trick-tu-world-cup-den-sieu-kinh-dien-2400273.html