On Tuesday, in the press room of Real Madrid’s training center, the name of Kylian Mbappé was mentioned and Carlo Ancelotti collapsed. “I can only let my arms fall down,” said the Italian coach of Real Madrid on the eve of the Champions League game against RB Leipzig. That should mean something like: I surrender. As a reminder, Mbappé is the Paris Saint-Germain striker who was considered a safe access in Madrid a few months ago – and then extended his contract with PSG.
The reason for the question about Mbappé was a message from the French sports newspaper L’Equipe, after which Mbappé is likely to come back on the market next summer. The reason: In the summer of 2024 he should change free of charge. He had extended the contract until 2025, but the last year of the contract is optional. The decision to stay or not is up to Mbappé.
Ancelotti was asked whether Mbappé would again be an issue at Real because PSG could only generate money with a possible Mbappé transfer in the summer of 2023. “We’re not thinking of anyone at the moment,” said the former Bayern coach with his shoulders slumped. “We have a great squad and we’re very happy with our young strikers.”
In the Champions League final, Rodrygo only came on as a substitute – for Vinícius, the winning goalscorer
Ancelotti was primarily thinking of the two young Brazilians who are fighting an interesting bouquet – about the question of which of the two is more inspiring, more imaginative, more sensitive. Left winger Vinícius Jr., 22, who joined Madrid from CR Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro four years ago? Or the slightly more elegant Rodrygo, 21, who came to Madrid from the legendary FC Santos in 2019, where the world careers of Pelé, Robinho, Diego or Neymar Júnior began?
And what about him? Is Kylian Mbappé going to Real Madrid or not?
(Photo: Franck Fife/AFP)
Vinícius and Rodrygo have several things in common that go beyond the color of their passports or the hairdresser: they both get their hair done by Sebastião, teammate Eduardo Camavinga’s brother. Both also had the same price tag. Real Madrid reportedly transferred €45m to Brazil for both Rodrygo and Vinícius. And: They both didn’t strike immediately. But for different reasons.
The fast, often hasty Vinícius had no shortage of chances, in the narrower and broader sense. He got a lot of playing time and missed so many good scoring chances that the macabre joke quickly circulated in Spain that Vinícius should be appointed as the shooter in the event of a death sentence by shooting. Rodrygo on the other hand? Could be trained extensively, also because he was considered a protégé of club boss Florentino Pérez, there was no pressure on him. Just a few days ago, coach Ancelotti said: “Rodrygo’s training period is over. He is now a Real Madrid player in every sense.”
One was not used to so much comfort from Rodrygo’s previous career. On the contrary. He signed his first outfitter contract with a sporting goods company when he was eleven years old as a young hopeful for FC Santos; five years later, Rodrygo made his debut in the first team of the “Peixe”, as Santos is popularly known. By comparison, Neymar was 17 when he made his first professional game for Santos. Rodrygo’s career was so promising that father Eric, now just 38 years old, retired in 2016 to devote himself fully to his son’s career.
Vinícius and Rodrygo have both had a good start to the season
The former right-back saw his son keep scoring important goals – despite being mostly on the bench. In November 2019, he scored three goals in Real Madrid’s 6-0 win over Galatasaray, which was crucial in allowing Zinedine Zidane, who resigned months later, to resume coaching. He turned the Bernabéu stadium upside down with his two goals in the miraculous 3-1 semi-final second leg win of last year’s Champions League season against Manchester City. In the final in Saint-Denis against Liverpool (1-0), Rodrygo sat on the bench – and had one of the few moments when he was in the ears of his superiors.
“Tell him to bring me! Tell him to bring me!!” he begged fitness trainer Antonio Pintus in a crescendo. Ancelotti only heard him in added time – and substituted him for the winning goalscorer Vinícius. Against Leipzig, however, the Brazilian pincer should come into play from the start.
Both have had a good start to the season: Vinícius has five goals in seven games, Rodrygo has two goals in five games. Ancelotti was also asked on Tuesday whether he spoke to Brazil coach Tite about the two, and the Italian said that while he was friends with Tite, he only spoke about such things when it was absolutely necessary. “Now it’s not necessary,” said Ancelotti, “Tite sees it all himself.”
Watching Madrid’s games may also give Tite a headache. Because it will be exciting to see whether he can really take all the offensive forces with him to the World Cup in less than two months that are currently shining in Europe: Neymar (PSG), Antony (Manchester United), Raphinha (FC Barcelona), Firmino (Liverpool), Cunha (Atlético Madrid), Richarlison (Tottenham), Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal) – and Vinícius and Rodrygo. In Brazil it is rumored that there is still one player at home who can at least compete with the Europeans: Pedro from CR Flamengo.