Liverpool, beware! Resurgent Arsenal primed for all-time title race

Carragher is wrong about Trent & Salah contract distractions

GOAL's European Team of the 2020s so far

Online Soccer Betting: Our 2024 Guide

Olmo registration farce is Barca's ultimate humiliation

Ted Lasso to 'self-reboot' with 'different story' in Season 4

Will Liverpool vs Man Utd showdown be postponed? 

Maguire's £4m mansion flooded after Man Utd star hosts NYE party

Messi to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom

Maddison in hot water? Postecoglou on darts trip

Liverpool offer £78m contract to Alexander-Arnold 

Man Utd 'hunting dressing room mole' – with culprit well known

Salah stunned by Slot revelation

<p style="display: none;">Article continues below</p><p style="display: none;">Article continues below</p><p style="display: none;">Article continues below</p><script type="application/json" data-placement="fcplayer-semantic">{"type":"fcplayer-semantic","data":{"embedCode":"//cdn.fcp.codes/embed-code-template/embed-code-template.js#SEMANTIC_5704afb8-c10b-4ba5-9cb4-d7fb6098ef90"}}</script><ul><li>Moved to Spain as a free agent</li><li>Found spark after slow start</li><li>Operating under intense spotlight</li></ul><table><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va2ivxLJJhzdzbJdwo0n"><strong>Follow GOAL on WhatsApp!</strong></a> 🟢📱</td></tr></tbody></table>

Kylian Mbappe a victim of 'greatest enemy in football' after becoming another 'Galactico' at Real Madrid

Copa del Rey

Deportiva Minera

Real Madrid

<p>The World Cup winner <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/dont-think-about-cristiano-no-ronaldo-pressure-kylian-mbappe-real-madrid-galactico-footsteps-idol/blt33fe7fa9ff7c931e" target="_blank">finally completed a move to Spain in the summer of 2024</a> after several windows of intense speculation regarding his future. Mbappe <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/galactico-levels-kylian-mbappe-doesnt-reach-karim-benzema-ankle-france-questioned-injury-pressure-real-madrid/blt31b240dd12c33362" target="_blank">joined Los Blancos as a free agent</a> after reaching the end of his contract at Paris Saint-Germain.</p>

WHAT HAPPENED?

<p>Adapting to life outside of his homeland was always going to be challenging, and <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/will-real-madrid-wash-hands-kylian-mbappe-karim-benzema-galactico-argument-world-cup-winning-french-forward-searches-spark/blta227b89db5077350" target="_blank">Mbappe faced plenty of uncomfortable questions early on</a> in Madrid before finding a spark that has <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/this-time-won-no-lionel-messi-deny-kylian-mbappe-real-madrid-superstar-reacts-lifting-trophy-scene-world-cup-final-nightmare/blt5e30888f9c128cbb" target="_blank">delivered six goals and another trophy</a> through his last eight appearances in all competitions.</p>

THE BIGGER PICTURE

<p>Former Real player and coach Jorge Valdano has told <a href="https://www.sueddeutsche.de/sport/valdano-interview-wirtz-musiala-li.3173251?reduced=true " target="_blank"><em>Suddeutsche Zeitung</em></a> of the challenges that the France international has had to overcome in the Spanish capital: "It’s a question of adaptation. Mbappe left his country, France, for the first time and that took him sociologically out of his comfort zone. This may have led to a process of anxiety, and anxiety is the great enemy of the footballer."</p>

WHAT VALDANO SAID

<p>Mbappe knew what he was letting himself in for when agreeing to join Real, but the <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/kylian-mbappe-misses-psg-status-everyone-played-for-him-frustration-building-real-madrid-galactico/blt2b85f0579049ef61" target="_blank">intensity of performing under the brightest of spotlights</a> may have come as some surprise. Valdano added on the differences between superstar status in Paris and Madrid: "In France, football is not as culturally important as it is here in Spain. This can be seen simply on the television channel DAZN, which has perhaps 100,000 to 200,000 subscribers in France. Real Madrid, on the other hand, is not only the news leader on Sundays but also on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays."</p>

DID YOU KNOW?

<p>Mbappe has <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/kylian-mbappe-backed-become-real-madrid-phenomenon-emotional-issues-solved-galactico-santiago-bernabeu/blt6ccc82d2a6a86075" target="_blank">taken his goal haul for the Blancos to 14 through 24 appearances</a>. He is playing with a smile on his face again and will be hoping to figure prominently when Real return to action after their winter break with a trip to Valencia on Friday.</p>

WHAT NEXT?

Kylian Mbappe a victim of 'greatest enemy in football' after becoming another 'Galactico' at Real Madrid | Goal.com Australia

Kylian Mbappe has become a victim of the “greatest enemy in football” since seeing Real Madrid make him another ‘Galactico’ at Santiago Bernabeu.