Kylian Mbappe gave a sharp retort in addressing a criticism which has plagued his career.
Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé has dismissed criticism regarding his defensive work rate, rejecting direct comparisons to Barcelona’s Raphinha and Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembélé.
The 27-year-old French captain addressed the scrutiny during a September 7 press conference ahead of Real Madrid’s UEFA Champions League opener against Inter Milan, defending his and teammate Vinícius Júnior’s overall contributions.
Mbappe dismisses direct comparison
Reporters questioned whether Mbappé and the Brazilian winger needed to increase their defensive efforts, specifically citing the aggressive pressing systems executed by Raphinha and Dembélé.
Mbappé initially questioned why the defensive spotlight was solely focused on Real Madrid’s primary attacking duo before highlighting the disparity in offensive output.
”Just me and Vini?” Mbappé asked reporters. “If I wanted to be stupid, I could tell you that I score more goals than those two players you mentioned, so they need to score more to be like me. Everyone’s different. But I’m smart, so I’ll tell you that I need to improve.”
Offensive output versus defensive gaps
Mbappé’s offensive output is out of question. The forward claimed his second successive Pichichi Trophy by recording 25 goals in 31 appearances. He also won the Champions League top scorer award with 15 goals.
Conversely, Dembélé and Raphinha operate primarily as high-work-rate facilitators who recently secured the UEFA Champions League and LALIGA titles, respectively.
Despite Mbappé’s elite offensive numbers, tactical analysts frequently cite the lack of defensive tracking from both him and Vinícius as a primary structural vulnerability.
Real Madrid finished the 2025/26 campaign without a single piece of major silverware under the management of Xabi Alonso and Álvaro Arbeloa, intensifying media scrutiny over the squad’s shape and balance when out of possession.