When Kylian Mbappe joined Real Madrid in the summer, many believed the team would be too strong in attack for any defence. Everyone feared an attack that would feature Mbappe, Vinicius Jr., Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham.
However, with two months left of the season, it’s clear that we all expected too much.
It’s not that Mbappe hasn’t hit those dizzying numbers in front of goal. The French striker has plundered 33 goals in all competitions for Real Madrid, making him the team’s top scorer.
But many Madridistas have been left frustrated by the team’s attack in many games, with Madrid failing to score or falling to defeat even against small teams like Valencia.
The problem, according to statistics, is that Mbappe and Vinicius don’t have a great relationship on the pitch. The two superstars cannot connect!
“I came to Madrid with the idea of playing with Vinicius, and I can’t imagine Real Madrid without Vini,” Mbappe said in his latest interview.
But what we see on the pitch tells a different story.
Mbappe performs better for Real Madrid when Vinicius doesn’t play. The difference isn’t much but stats have confirmed this.
Mbappe has scored seven goals in as many games for Real Madrid when Vinicius isn’t on the pitch. Thus, Mbappe scores a goal per game without Vini.
With Vini on the pitch, Mbappe has scored 26 goals in 41 games. That’s an average of a goal every 1.5 games.
In terms of shooting, Mbappe needs less time to shoot when Vini is not there, 19 minutes, compared to 20 with Vini.
In contrast to Mbappe, Vinicius actually plays better when Mbappe is on the pitch. Judging from a very small sample size.
Without Mbappe, Vini has gone four games without scoring. But with Mbappe on the pitch, he has scored 20 goals in 41 games.
Vinicius shoots less frequently when Mbappe is not on the pitch (one every 24 minutes compared to one every 27).
Vinicius has managed 20 goals in 41 games, which amounts to a goal every two games. Vinicius shoots from inside the box once every 10 minutes with Mbappe, and 14 minutes without Mbappe.
It’s not that Mbappe and Vinicius don’t pass to each other on the pitch. They do, in fact, Vini passes the ball to Mbappe more than any other Real Madrid player, but those passes are mostly unproductive.
The stats show that Vinicius has delivered 15 key passes (pass leading to shot) to Mbappe; compared to 13 key passes from Bellingham and Rodrygo.