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What the Spanish media are saying about Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr after Real Madrid’s 2-1 loss vs Arsenal

Srinivas Sadhanand

Thu 17 April 2025 8:15, UK

All eyes were on Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr to spearhead Real Madrid to a nigh-on impossible comeback against Arsenal in the build-up to the clash at the Santiago Bernabeu.

While William Saliba gifted Vinicius a goal after being overtly casual in possession, the Brazilian as well as his Los Blancos teammate largely had a game to forget against Arsenal.

It was Bukayo Saka who looked like the truly elite attacker on the pitch as Mbappe and Vinicius looked completely out of ideas against Mikel Arteta’s side.

Los Merengues’ superstar pair tried their hardest to make things happen but the visitors’ defence was typically rock-solid and largely untroubled.

The Spanish media were far from impressed with how both Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr fared for Real Madrid against Arsenal on a much-awaited Champions League night.

Spanish media credit Arsenal for keeping Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr quiet vs Real Madrid

The Real Madrid duo commanded respect from Arsenal in the lead-up to the Champions League clash, with Martin Odegaard raving about Vinicius’ quality and Jakub Kiwior admitting to how dangerous Mbappe is.

But on the pitch, Arsenal read both Mbappe and Vinicius like a book — which was bad news for Carlo Ancelotti as his job is in danger at Real Madrid.

The Spanish edition of commented on Mbappe’s showing for against Arsenal by handing him a match rating of 5/10 and writing: “He wasn’t bad, but he was very well defended. He was dangerous when the game opened up but was then withdrawn due to injury.”

As for Vinicius Jr, the publication added that he had a tough time against Jurrien Timber: “He rarely managed to get past his man and lost the ball several times. He tied the score temporarily, but it was a remarkably poor performance.”

gave Mbappe a 4.5/10 rating and claimed that the Real Madrid striker had little to no impact against Arsenal: “He appeared between the lines, but above all, he forced a penalty from Rice that VAR denied. He also tried from distance. He was more involved at the start of the second half. He even headed in one of Madrid’s countless crosses into the box, a real highlight, although he had no chance of scaring [David] Raya. To top off a poor night, he went off injured. He clearly wasn’t the Mbappé we expected on nights like this.”

While claimed both Mbappe and Vinicius were ineffective against Arsenal as Real Madrid crashed out of the Champions League: “Mbappe failed to ignite, despite trying; the same goes for Vinicius. Ditto Bellingham, Rodrygo and [Federico] Valverde. Changes came and went but the fresher legs failed to spark things, and eventually, the fans had enough.”

Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr stats vs Arsenal

The Gunners can be proud of largely taming two of arguably the most devastating players in world football over both legs.

The stats back up just how less of an impact both Mbappe and Vinicius had against Arsenal, who have progressed to the Champions League semi-finals after their victory against Real Madrid.

Alarmingly, Mbappe and Vinicius Jr had a combined xG and xA (Expected goals and expected assists) of 1.12 — which shows how disappointing they were against Real Madrid.

The latter did score, which is why he had an xG of 0.85 but the goal was one that came down to a catastrophic mistake from Saliba; with the pair completing two dribbles in total and two shots on target in total.