Ever since he infamously snubbed Real Madrid to stay at PSG last year, Kylian Mbappe has earned a bad reputation among the fans of the Spanish side.
Their supporters are understandably livid that he made a mockery of the club and picked money over the possibility of becoming a Real Madrid legend.
But after having seen their team win the La Liga and Champions League titles last season without even signing Mbappe, the Madrid supporters have found another idol to lay their future expectations on.
That is, of course, Vinicius Jr – who has reached a whole new level for Madrid since the start of last season.
The Brazilian played a huge role in their heroics last season, scoring 22 goals and providing 20 assists across all competitions.
Vinicius has arguably Madrid’s best player in a bit of a topsy-turvy campaign so far, scoring 18 goals and providing 8 assists. That included an impressive brace and assist in Real Madrid’s emphatic 5-2 win over Liverpool in the Champions League.
Vinicius acted as a leader in the game, motivating his teammates after they went 2-0 down in the early part of the game. He scored an impressive goal to make it 2-1 seeing his perseverance rewarded with a gift from Alisson for his equalizer.
The Brazilian triggered the comeback and went on also assist Karim Benzema’s second to help make a real statement that even got the Anfield crowd appreciating him.
Soon after his impressive performance, Vinicius received some major praise from Real Madrid legend Guti.
The ex-Spain midfielder said on the Spanish show El Chiringuito: “Vinicius is in more shape than Mbappé.” He basically means to say that Vinicius is in better form than Mbappe – even though Kylian has made goals than him this season.
There could be some debate over which player is having the better domestic season – especially considering Vinicius’ Champions League heroics – but Kylian’s dominance at the World Cup sets him apart.
On current form, yet, it’ll be fair to say that the Real Madrid man is much better and looks poised to end this campaign strongly as well.
Amidst this ongoing debate, Barcelona midfielder Pablo Torre appears to have added some more spice to irk his rival clubs’ fans. In an interview with Spanish TikToker Adri Contreras, the Spaniard hinted that Mbappe and not VInicius is the best player around right now.
In a rapid-fire Q&A session, the Barca star was asked about one rival team’s player that he would like to sign, to which he replied Mbappe.
Now, while Barca and PSG are not technically rivals – they have developed a rivalry over the last decade or so. It started when PSG started poaching players from Barca and shocked the world by signing Neymar for a world-record fee.
They even managed to sign Lionel Messi for free in 2021, something that irks a lot of Barca fans to this day. PSG have also gotten the better of Barca in their Champions League meetings in recent years, which their fans or players can’t forget either.
So for a Barca player to term Kylian – who has tormented their club in Europe in the last few years – as the best player is definitely a major thing. It’s probably made to tease the Real Madrid fans as well as heat up the Vinicius/Mbappe debate even more.
