"He has experience, he's often played against Barcelona," Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti said when quizzed on Kylian Mbappe's mindset heading into the first Clasico of the 2024-25 season. "He knows what he has to do... His way of preparing for a game is to be very calm, very straightforward."
Barcelona certainly struggled to contain Mbappe when he was a Paris Saint-Germain player, with the Frenchman notching six goals in four appearances against the Catalan giants. Mbappe even managed to outshine Lionel Messi in a 2020-21 Champions League last-16 tie, scoring a stunning hat-trick to give PSG a 4-1 first-leg victory at Camp Nou.
Things didn't always run smoothly for Mbappe at PSG, but he rarely let them down in the biggest matches. The World Cup winner left the club in the summer with 20 Champions League knockout goals to his name and a combined total of 38 against PSG's main Ligue 1 rivals Monaco, Marseille, Lille and Lyon.
Ancelotti was banking on that version of Mbappe showing up again on Saturday. Alas, he turned out to be little more than a pale imitation as Barca romped to a 4-0 victory at Santiago Bernabeu, moving six points clear of Madrid at the top of La Liga in the process. Robert Lewandowski put on a finishing clinic to inspire Barca while Mbappe turned in his most frustrating performance in a Madrid shirt to date - which is really saying something.
There was a huge gulf between the two sides last season as Ancelotti's team stormed to a La Liga and Champions League double, but that dynamic has been completely reversed in a few short months. Mbappe' presence has made Madrid worse; he's thrown their well-oiled machine completely out of balance, and something has to change quickly if they are to start clawing Barca back.