The soap opera that is Real Madrid had another blockbuster episode last night with Kylian Mbappe and Alvaro Arbeloa engaging in a verbal tit-for-tat that ruthlessly exposed their fractured relationship.
Mbappe came off the bench as Madrid beat Oviedo 2-0 – and was greeted by loud whistles from the Santiago Bernabeu crowd – and set up the second goal for Jude Bellingham.
The real drama was still to come, though, with the France striker making his frustration clear in the mixed zone.
Mbappe has only just returned to full fitness after a hamstring problem but was baffled as to why he was not in the starting XI.
“I’m well, I’m 100%,” Mbappe said. “I didn’t play because the coach told me I’m the fourth-choice forward in the squad behind [Franco] Mastantuono, Vinicius [Junior] and Gonzalo [Garcia]. I accept it and play the time I’m given. I think I played well.
“I was ready to start. I’m not angry with the manager. You always have to respect a coach’s decision. I’ll work hard to get back into the starting line-up.”
That claim was vigorously denied by Arbeloa, who claimed he said: “I didn’t say that phrase to him. I would like to have four strikers, he must not have understood me well.”
Real Madrid have got worse under Arbeloa, claims Mbappe
Mbappe’s next barb was to suggest Madrid have got worse following the sacking of Xabi Alonso in January.
“We started the season well, in the league, in the Champions League… but we lost it in the second half,” said the former Paris Saint-Germain striker. “And it hurts a lot, because I feel that we had a game structure and we let it go.”
When that was put to Arbeloa, he replied: “I think it would be good for him to think that he scored many more goals in the first half of the season than in the second.”
Mbappe insisted he was happy in Madrid and had no intention of leaving and also claimed to have no problem with Arbeloa. “You have to respect him. You have to accept the coach’s philosophy and I have to do better to play ahead of Vini, Gonzalo and Mastantuono.
“I had a great relationship with Xabi, he is going to be a great coach but it’s in the past and you have to look forward.”
Mbappe defends Italy trip amid Real Madrid boos
Mbappe has faced fierce criticism in recent weeks, most notably for his decision to go on holiday with his girlfriend rather than stay in the Spanish capital and continue his recovery from the injury sustained against Real Betis on April 24.
But he repeated his stance that he was granted permission by the club to go to Italy.
He said: “You don’t know what I’ve done in Italy. You don’t know if I’ve been on vacation, that’s your opinion. You said vacation and you don’t know.
“People don’t know the context of everything, why I went there, if I had authorisation from the club or not, and I did. And in the end that only sells papers. But the only important thing for me, my focus, is to win titles. And we have done it. It’s the most important thing.”
Mbappe claimed he was not bothered by the crowd’s reaction to his appearance against Oviedo, adding: “You have to accept it. I think it’s an opinion that people express. I don’t think you have to take it personally. No-one is going to die tonight. It’s normal when we haven’t won that people choose players to whistle. It has happened at Real Madrid, it has happened in all the clubs in the world. I don’t know what’s special about that. When we don’t win, it’s life.”
