Champions League nights are made for spectacles like this. In just one match Kylian Mbappe reminded everyone why he is called the leading centre-forward of his generation: a four-goal haul against Olympiakos, a chase of Salah's record and a 4–3 Real win in which every one of his goals proved vital. But behind the attacking fireworks the weaknesses of Madrid's game without the ball were once again clearly exposed.
Seven Minutes That Turned The Game Around
The start was a nightmare for Real: already in the 8th minute Chiquinho punished the hosts for their slack defending and put Olympiakos ahead. The Bernabeu fell silent, but the lull did not last long – between the 22nd and 29th minutes Mbappe put on a one-man show.
First, Vinicius sliced open the defence with a perfect ball in behind, sending Kylian through one-on-one. The Frenchman did not close in on the keeper, timed his shot before the goalkeeper came out and coolly finished just as the defenders were about to block him. It was 1–1, and the game was no longer calm.
Two minutes later Arda Guler crossed towards Mbappe into the box, and Kylian rose above everyone to head home almost unchallenged. The leap, the positioning, the timing – a textbook centre-forward goal.
In the 29th minute the Greek defence simply collapsed: they lost track of Mbappe, Eduardo Camavinga clipped a precise diagonal ball to him, and Kylian enjoyed a rarity for the Champions League – an abundance of time. He brought the ball under control, looked up and drilled it into the far bottom corner. In seven minutes Real had gone from 0–1 down to 3–1 up – and the story was still far from over.
After the break Olympiakos pulled one back, but in the 60th minute Madrid launched a rapid counterattack: Vinicius drilled the ball across from the flank and Mbappe tapped in from the edge of the six-yard box, completing his four-goal haul and making it 4–2. Late on the Greeks again punished Real for their passive defending in their own box, cutting the deficit to 4–3 – and it became obvious that without Mbappe's fourth goal even this encounter with a far from elite opponent could easily have ended in failure.
Four-Goal Haul, Almost A Record And Europe's Top Scorer
This match entered Mbappe's personal history not only emotionally but statistically as well. His first-half hat-trick became one of the fastest in Champions League history – three goals in 6 minutes 42 seconds. Had he scored the third at least half a minute earlier, he would have broken Mohamed Salah's record set in 2022, when the Liverpool forward hit a treble in 6:12 against Rangers.
Only two players have ever scored three even faster in the Champions League than Kylian: Marco Simone, who hit a hat-trick for Milan against Rosenborg in the mid-90s, and Robert Lewandowski, who destroyed a Red Bull side for Bayern in 2022. Mbappe now stands in the same bracket as these goalscoring monsters.
The goals against Olympiakos were Kylian's 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd for Real this season. His tally now stands at 22 goals and 3 assists in 18 appearances for the Madrid side. In the Champions League he is the outright leader of the scoring charts: nine goals to Victor Osimhen's six. Before this he had struck twice against Marseille and produced a hat-trick versus Kairat.
The domestic picture is similar: Mbappe is La Liga's leading scorer with 13 goals. In total he has 22 goals in 18 outings this season and already 66 in 77 matches for Real overall. It is particularly symbolic that the four-goal haul came after a run of three scoreless club games – against Liverpool, Rayo Vallecano and Elche. The forward chose the perfect moment to remind everyone of himself.
The Team's Response To The Pressure And The Doubts Around Alonso
The backdrop to the game was anything but simple. The Spanish media were actively reporting that a significant part of the dressing room supposedly no longer believed in Xabi Alonso. The coach himself did not dodge the issue, honestly acknowledging how difficult the situation was: he spoke about the toughness of the job, the importance of communication with the players and the need to respect those who always come first in any team.
The Olympiakos game was seen as an examination: the team needed to respond both to a run of three matches without a win and to the media noise around the coach. In terms of motivation Real definitely passed the test – the team came out switched on, with the right attitude and a willingness to run to the end, something that had clearly been lacking in recent outings. No one was going through the motions on the pitch; the leaders took responsibility.
A Convenient Target And An Old Pain: Real's Defense Is Still Fragile
Even so, it is far too early to talk about Madrid being fully cured. Jose Luis Mendilibar's Olympiakos provided the hosts with almost ideal conditions. The Greeks opted for a high press but often failed to reach Real in the first phase of build-up. As a result the Madrid side had acres of space in which to carry the ball forward.
Even more risky was the visitors' decision to hold their defensive line very high even after Real had beaten the press and moved into central areas. The combination of a somewhat disorganized press with a permanently advanced back line is the worst possible scenario against a team that has Mbappe and Vinicius. All their teammates had to do was keep chipping balls in behind for them – and it worked time and again.
But without the ball Real once again revealed all of their flaws. The press and counter-press look incomplete, the structure falls apart, and in their own box the team defends at the level of a mid-table side. Two of the three goals conceded came from crosses, with Olympiakos players heading the ball virtually unchallenged. It was the eighth time this season Madrid have been punished by a header – Alonso has yet to find a cure for this chronic problem.
Feast In Attack And Worrying Signals For Tomorrow
The Olympiakos match showed both faces of the current Real at once. On the one hand, the dressing room is clearly not in the state of collapse painted by insiders: the team is still fighting for the coach, the leaders are assuming responsibility for the game, and Mbappe is performing at a level worthy of the label of the Champions League's best striker.
On the other hand, a 4–3 win over an opponent who allowed far too much in defense should lull no one to sleep. Real again conceded three, again lost key moments in their own penalty area and again gave their opponents hope in a game that could have been killed off much earlier. Mbappe's four-goal haul saved the night and slightly eased the pressure on Alonso, but the team still has a long way to go before its defensive shape is truly solid and its overall balance stable.
