Kylian Mbappe's strange Clasico debut: eight offsides, some big misses and limited confidence

The date was November 24, 2018.

As referee Juan Martinez Munuera blew the final whistle, a disappointed Real Madrid team headed into the tunnel after a 3-0 La Liga defeat in Eibar. Karim Benzema was caught offside seven times, equaling a league record set by Elche's Jonathas de Jesus in May 2015.

Almost six years later, Kylian Mbappe, Benzema's long-time replacement, went one better to make the unwanted record his own against another team in red and blue. Only this happened in El Clasico in front of almost 80,000 spectators at the Bernabeu and millions worldwide, when Real Madrid suffered a 4-0 defeat.

Mbappe's first Clasico caused quite a stir as he scored six goals in four games against Barcelona, ​​including a hat-trick at the Camp Nou. He also usually performs well in big games, with three goals in five games against his current employers in the Champions League, four goals in two World Cup finals for France and 38 in 52 combined Ligue 1 games against Marseille, Lyon, Monaco and Lille.

On Saturday, Barca's high line was expected to give him opportunities as he and his partner Vinicius Junior timed their runs as they had superior pace compared to Barcelona's defenders.

A simple strategy on paper, but Mbappe struggled due to a combination of occasion, underdeveloped chemistry with his teammates and complete wastefulness.

From kick-off on Saturday, Madrid's approach was clear.

Their defenders kicked the ball across the pitch, allowing Mbappe, Vinicius Jr. and Jude Bellingham to win their duels.

When they lost possession in the first period, the physicality of Federico Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga gave them the upper hand against Barcelona's front six. All three Madrid midfielders can also play through the press with quick passes, and this combination of qualities caused Barca problems in the first half.

The final pieces of the puzzle were well-timed runs and confident finishing, but two offside calls within the first 90 seconds of the game suggested that was easier said than done.

In the second half, Camavinga pushed Mbappe into the wide gap between Jules Kounde, who was wary of Vinicius Jr., and Inigo Martinez after Pau Cubarsi stepped up to displace Camavinga. Mbappe raced through but his finishing was poor as he dragged the goal wide.

Over the next 12 minutes, Mbappe contributed twice without the ball and pressed harder than at any time this season to force Martinez to go long and help his team regain possession. He also brought down a long pass from Eder Militao before sinking it wide to Vinicius Jr. to spark an attack.

Mbappe's willingness to contribute was evident and his work off the ball laid the foundation for his team's approach to the game.

Then there was a third offside, suggesting that he had not learned from the incident.

Vinicius Jr again pinned Kounde on the right and while Cubarsi didn't push up, Mbappe found space between Barcelona's two centre-backs. Mbappe looked over his shoulder, but still started his run a little too early after Camavinga's pass.

He was offside after passing the ball to Bellingham, who forced Inaki Pena into a fantastic save…

More off-ball pressure on Martinez forced another Barcelona loss before the most eye-catching of Mbappe's eight offside situations occurred in the 19th minute. In this case too, he looked over his shoulder, but ran too early to meet Bellingham's hooked pass forward from the right wing.

Six minutes later, Barca had him offside again. On this occasion, Mbappe managed to get back onside but continued to watch the ball, meaning he did not notice Cubarsi taking an extra step forward. When Ferland Mendy played it in from the left, he was a few centimeters in front of the defensive line.

However, Mbappe was getting closer and closer to finding out and after half an hour he appeared to have done just that.

A search ball from Antonio Rüdiger found Lucas Vazquez on the right wing. Mbappe was clearly offside when Vazquez received the ball, but fought back when Alejandro Balde brought down the Madrid captain. A few touches later, Vazquez released Mbappe between and behind the centre-backs and he charged forward before finishing with a deft chip…

… only for Madrid's joy to come to an abrupt end after a VAR check.

This was the closest of all, as the semi-automatic replay below suggests. Interestingly, Vinicius Jr. seemed to have his doubts when the goal was scored, suggested by his initial hesitation (see above) to join in the celebrations.

The marginal nature of the call suggests that Vazquez, who had time and space thanks to Bellingham's positioning, could have made the pass earlier.

Three minutes later another long ball from the home defense caused problems for Barcelona. Mbappe won the one-on-one against Cubarsi and stormed forward, but Martinez was able to hit back and send the ball backwards for a corner.

That was the striker's final crucial contribution of the half as the teams headed into the break.

Madrid had indeed created chances, but as the expected goals (xG) table below shows, offsides had rendered them largely meaningless, as their xG wasn't too far off Barcelona's, although the visitors were barely significant.

The second half offered Madrid a chance to extend their dominance and four minutes later Mbappe made a well-timed run behind Cubarsi to intercept a pass from Vazquez on the counterattack. His first contact with the ball was a bit heavy, so Cubarsi was able to put the ball back for a corner. But that was encouraging for the Frenchman and his team.

However, this optimism quickly disappeared.

The first signs of problems with Mbappe's pressing began to appear in the 54th minute. A half-hearted attempt to stop Marc Casado allowed the Barca midfielder to stroll into space and thread the needle to find Robert Lewandowski in Barcelona's first successful attempt to pass through Madrid.

Lewandowski, who was sidelined because of Mendy's poor positioning, was ice cold with his finish. The guests led 1-0.

Two minutes later, a more restrained pressing high up and a nice passing move from Barcelona – made possible by the composure of half-time substitute Frenkie de Jong – ensured Lewandowski scored again from a cross from Balde.

Now they were 2-0 down and Madrid had their backs against the wall, but they did nothing of note until the 61st minute, when Mbappé conjured up his first real shot of the game. After receiving a pass from Camavinga on the left, he cut inside to his favored right foot before firing a low shot straight at Pena.

A second shot followed three minutes later after another well-timed run from Mbappe between Cubarsi and Martinez. He picked up Vinicius Jr.'s pass from the left and pushed it toward goal, but Pena got far off his line and shortened the angle.

Instead of pulling him around or lifting him above him, Mbappe shot straight at Pena.

Mbappe's involvement increased, but his problems with the offside trap returned in the 66th minute.

After a miscontrol by Raphinha in Madrid's defensive third, Vazquez found Valverde, who was immediately saved by Dani Olmo. Mbappe was offside in both actions.

Valverde first looks up and notices that Mbappe (as well as Vinicius Jr. and Bellingham) is still offside, allowing Olmo to apply more pressure. With no other choice, he played the only pass available: to the Frenchman. Mbappe ended the move with a shot into Pena's far corner, but was once again clearly offside.

Mbappe's third and final shot of the game came in the 71st minute.

After Olmo lost the ball in his own half, Luka Modric lifted the ball over the defensive line to find Mbappe, who perfectly controlled his run on Martinez's blindside, creating another one-on-one opportunity. This time Pena stayed closer to the edge of the six-yard box and dared Mbappe to beat him at either post.

Mbappe chose the far post but his execution was poor as Pena saved again without breaking a sweat.

Mbappe's final involvement in the game came in the opening seconds of stoppage time and was a near-perfect example of how Madrid had envisioned their original game plan.

Bellingham pulled Cubarsi forward for a long ball that flew over both and into the path of Vinicius Jr. He comfortably rotated Kounde on the halfway line before finding Mbappe on the left. Mbappe raced through and forced a save from Pena at the post, but thanks to a clever dart backwards from Martinez, Cubarsi was able to recover and set the offside trap again.

The result? The assistant referee's flag was raised again, marking twelve infringements for the hosts and eight for Mbappe alone…

Between Mbappe's final shot and the final offside, Barcelona had scored two goals. The first was a thunderous shot from Lamine Yamal off the post, partly reminiscent of Mbappe's first goal after his hat-trick at Camp Nou in 2021. The second was a deft chip from Raphinha, who effortlessly broke through Madrid's last line of defense with a long ball after they had committed men forward.

Those goals were the epitome of what Madrid needed from Mbappe that night, but he could never put the two together.

At times the opportunity and perhaps the desire to make a difference seemed to overwhelm him; on other occasions he simply didn't show the confidence that many associate with his play, particularly in front of goal. In games of this magnitude, being on the wrong side does not go unpunished.

There is also the question of synergies with his new teammates, which will improve over time. The game against Barcelona is notable for the high number of offsides, but it is worth noting that Mbappe was offside at least once in seven of his nine La Liga games before Saturday.

Mbappe's frustration shows (Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP via Getty Images)

Madrid as a team have only been caught offside 24 times this season, and Mbappe has contributed 17 of them. Vinicius Jr. was offside twice against Barcelona, ​​but previously only once all season. The Brazilian was smart in his runs, knowing when his teammates would release the ball and aware that his pace allows him to beat most defenders.

For this partnership to work on the biggest stages – especially given the duo's limitations in managing the press – Mbappe will need to develop similar intelligence in-game, in addition to improving chemistry with his teammates. He will also need to reduce his profligacy when the opportunities arise, with his six league goals this season coming at an xG of 7.7.

Playing for Madrid was Mbappe's biggest dream. Once that is clear, the hardest part of the work now begins.

(Top photo: David Ramos/Getty Images)