AS: Vinicius 15%-13% Mbappé

An assembly of fine footballing talents is not always a golden bullet to guaranteed glory. We saw this with the Real Madrid Galácticos project and once again with the Madrid team of the early 2010s and history seems to be repeating itself with Vinicius Jr. and Kylian Mbappé. Both players are remarkably talented individuals but data shows that the players are proving to be incompatible in the same team.

Of the 6,240 minutes Real Madrid have played this season (across 68 matches), both players have shared 3,439 minutes. In other words: 55% of the minutes this season have been with Vinicius and Mbappé together on the pitch with both players featuring for roughly the same time (4,631′ for Vini and 4,745′ for Kylian).

15%

During their time on the pitch together, only 15% of the passes Vinicius has delivered made it to the French striker which is an alarming statistic, with Vinicius completing a total of 1,315 passes this season, of which only 202 have gone to the former PSG man who should be his most regular partner. In the Spanish Super Cup Mbappè received 30% of passes from the Brazilian but in all Champions League games in the 2024/25 season, this number drops to an average of 16%.

13%

There have been fleeting moments of connection between both strikers and the low passing statistic between both individuals is no one-way street as only 13% of Kylian Mbappé’s passes reach Vinicius. In total, the French striker made 1,413 this season, of which only 184 have ended up with the Brazilian winger. This is another striking statistic with it clear that both players fail to look to pass to the other.

Knock On effect

Despite the fact that Mbappé ended up winning the Golden Boot, his numbers have deteriorated compared to last season as he has gone from scoring every 88′ to every 108′. And from participating in a goal every 72′ to doing so every 97′. The same goes for Vinicius: he’s gone from scoring every 129′ to doing so every 211′. And from participating every 88′ to doing so every 113′.

The data is alarming and clearly suggests that an issue persists between Real Madrid’s star duo. Vini experienced a significant slump in final stretch of the season with the former Flamengo man only scoring one goal in his last 11 matches (against Arsenal, in the second leg). Although his season could be divided into ‘before the Ballon d’Or’ and ‘after the Ballon d’Or’ with 36% of his goals coming before, despite it being just three months.

Mbappé experienced a different experience as he struggled to get going... but finished with flying colors. He scored ten goals in his last six matches (since the Spanish Cup final) and a final sprint saw him reach 44 goals and win the Golden Boot (31 goals in La Liga). The final tally reflects divergent performances with both players like magnets that repel each other, in sporting terms: when one shines, the other fades. And vice versa.

Three nights in 2025

Of the 68 games Real Madrid has played in the 24-25 campaign, they have only both scored in eight with the bulk of the goals coming in the first part of the season. Since the turn of the year, they have only scored three times in a single game: Celta in the Cup (January 16), Salzburg in the Champions League (January 22), and Rayo in the League (March 9).

Fitting them together is Xabi Alonso’s big task with the Basque coach surprising many by playing Vinicius on the right flank in the PSG game, an experiment that was short-lived and apparently failed to go down well with the Brazilian

No-one doubts the individual quality of Vinicius and Mbappé but at present that’s not the issue, it’s how they can function together with Ancelotti failing to get the couple to gel and as of August 4th, it will be a major task for Xabi Alonso as he prepares ahead of the new season.