Mbappe face Haaland in UCL showdown

MADRID
Real Madrid desperately need superstar Kylian Mbappe at his magical best on Wednesday in a pivotal Champions League clash against Manchester City and unstoppable striker Erling Haaland.
After just two victories in seven matches, fractures have emerged in Xabi Alonso’s Madrid project, with some Spanish media reporting a defeat against City could lead to a premature dismissal.
So often this season Madrid have underwhelmed but been rescued by Mbappe’s lethal brilliance, scoring 25 goals in 21 games to lead the scoring charts both in Spain and in the Champions League.
Pep Guardiola’s City are spearheaded by Norwegian international Haaland, who has 20 goals in 20 games across all competitions and, along with Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane, is Mbappe’s only rival as the standout star of the current season.
The pair have also been drawn against each other at next summer’s World Cup in the United States, with Mbappe’s France to face Haaland’s Norway on June 26 in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The first chapter of that battle will be played out at the Bernabeu, where former Barcelona coach Guardiola would relish being able to add to Madrid’s misery.
This season City are structured around Haaland, playing to the forward’s strengths and aiming for the majority of their moves to end with the ball at his feet in front of goal.
What structure Alonso tried to impart at Madrid has crumbled away amid a tussle for power with the players, although Mbappe’s quality has made him their key figure.
“The team is a flat, uninspired group clustered around Mbappe, whose goals merely mask the crisis,” wrote Spanish newspaper AS on Sunday after a 2-0 home defeat by Celta Vigo.
“If he takes a day off, there’s no alternative.”
Mbappe has been Madrid’s one constant this season, thriving when the team was doing well during a run of 13 wins from 14 matches, but also in recent weeks amid their struggles.
After a slow start to life in Spain following his move from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2024, Mbappe found his top gear in the second half of last season.
In 2025 he has scored 55 goals for his club, four short of the 2013 record of 59 set by Cristiano Ronaldo, his childhood idol and Real Madrid’s all-time top goalscorer.