If Mbappé is half of Real Madrid, then with Vinicius and Güler they make up 85%. It sounds a lot – but it’s real. At least, if you take the stats as your thermometer. Three hammers. The data may be cold, but their form is red hot. Kylian has started the season in pure Cristiano style: 14 goals and 2 assists. Vinicius, in the best shape of his life: 5 goals and 4 assists. Arda, same story: 3 goals and 4 assists. All in just 10 games. Out of Madrid’s 26 total goals, 22 have come from this trident – 84.6%. Of the team’s 19 assists, they’ve created 10. That’s 52.6%. A three-headed dragon at Xabi Alonso’s command.
And a trident that truly understands each other. All four of Güler’s assists have gone to Mbappé. Of Vinicius’s four, two were for Kylian and one for Arda (the other went to Mastantuono). And the No. 9’s two gifts? One to No. 15, one to No. 7. Everything has clicked further in this second phase of the season, when Arda has pushed higher up, moving away from the base and closer to goal. “He’s playing now as an attacking midfielder to exploit his quality more. He’s in an intermediate role, positioned behind the forwards to connect with Mbappé. He scores goals and has the quality for the final pass,” explained Xabi. The three speak the same language – the language of goals – and he wants them as close together as possible.
The result: that 85%. Or those 25 goals jointly generated by Mbappé and Vinicius. Only one duo across Europe’s top five leagues has managed more – Harry Kane and Luis Díaz with 27 at Bayern. And that’s despite Vini’s shaky start. Without his old confidence or status, Xabi rotated him with Rodrygo, but recently he’s taken off, producing the best start of his career: five goals and four assists, averaging one goal involvement every 76 minutes. And Kylian… is Kylian. He deserves a chapter of his own. Or several.
The 61 of Cristiano… the 80 of Mbappé?
Mbappé is putting up historic numbers – even beyond his idol. “I hope one day they dream about me, the way they dream about Cristiano,” he told Jorge Valdano. He’s on his way there. Fourteen goals in 10 matches – the math is simple. If he plays 60 games (Madrid could reach 61, or 63 if the Champions League goes to playoffs), he’s on pace for 84 goals. Cristiano’s best year was 61 in 2014–15. We’re running out of hyperbole.
Full speed into the curves
And all this comes just before Madrid hits its first real mountain range of the season: Getafe (Sunday, 3:00 p.m. ET), Juventus (Wednesday 22), Barcelona (Sunday 26), Valencia (November 1), and Liverpool (Tuesday 4). Tough opponents – wolves in some cases, sheep’s clothing in others. But the trident arrives with fangs bared. Mbappé scored and assisted against Azerbaijan; Vinicius did the same against South Korea; Güler bagged one and assisted twice versus Bulgaria. They’re flying into the bends – a trident in form, in sync, and deadly.