

For the first time since leaving Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer to join Real Madrid in 2024, Kylian Mbappe squared off against his former squad in the Club World Cup semifinals. It couldn’t have gone much worse. He was marked out of the game while Madrid lost 4-0 to PSG in an embarrassing display. It was Mbappe’s first start of the tournament after his recovery from gastroenteritis, but it happened when Xabi Alonso had to shift the Real Madrid system due to suspensions and injuries.
Without Dean Huijsen (suspension) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (injury), Alonso opted for a traditional 4-4-2, putting Mbappe alongside Gonzalo Garcia, and it made it far too easy for PSG to keep the ball in favorable areas. Mbappe only took 27 touches during the entire game, turning it into four shots, putting one on target. Vinicius Juinio received a similar treatment with only 21 touches in the game, making it easy to see why Real Madrid weren’t able to score during the match. It also mirrored a Carlo Ancelotti setup, which was fine against teams lower down the table but struggled against the top teams in the world last season.
A need for a back three
In Real Madrid’s success during this tournament, they’ve operated with a hybrid 4-4-2 diamond or a 3-5-2. Those have allowed Francisco Garcia and Alexander-Arnold to showcase their attacking talents while Aurelien Tchouameni defends as needed to keep things in check. Each wing back was creating a plethora of chances for the forwards while Madrid willed their way to victory. It isn’t too dissimilar from what Alonso used at Bayer Leverkusen, and it was a breath of fresh air to Real Madrid. Ahead of this tournament, Francisco Garcia seemed like someone closer to the door than the first team at Madrid, and a new manager providing a blank slate for players has allowed him a chance to earn his way back into the squad.
But when forced to play a traditional back four, the liabilities showed. No one was able to turn defense into attack, and everything was stale. Moving forward, that may not be an issue as Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao made their first appearances for Madrid during this tournament in the loss to PSG. Both missed the end of last season due to injuries after being key players to the Madrid setup, and they’ll be needed to regain the La Liga crown.
Antonio Rudiger’s own liabilities showed during the match, but with him, Huijsen, Raul Asencio, and Tchouameni all being able to deputize at centerback, any slip-ups could lead to changes in Alonso’s side, and those changes could help give Mbappe more space to operate in. The Frenchman and Vini Jr may have taken up similar spaces last season, but it isn’t as much of an issue if they can be played through a defense. Alexander-Arnold is one of the best players in the world at line-splitting passes, which is a mouthwatering proposition for the attack. Despite not being a perfect fit for Madrid’s attack last season, Mbappe still scored 43 goals and assisted five more. With Alexander-Arnold feeding him, he could break 50 in this upcoming campaign.
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