Now We See The Real Kylian Mbappe Real Madrid.

Always wearing his trademark suit and tie, Carlo Ancelotti is usually the epitome of calm on the Bernabeu touchline. But after Raphinha scored to make it 0-4 to Barcelona in the first El Classico of the season, the demure Italian made a beeline for his opposite number, Hansi Flick, to wag a finger in his face. Afterward, the coach explained that he was unhappy with the Catalan team's staff spilling into the Real Madrid technical area, where they celebrated the fourth goal. Ancelotti said his opposite number agreed that the "ungentlemanly conduct" was out of line but played down the clash. He also sought to lessen the significance of the embarrassing defeat to the European champion's most hated rivals. "We played a first half with intensity. We could have scored [but] we lacked some accuracy," the Italian said postgame. "When they scored, they hit two goals that took all of our energy away. We took more risks at the back, and they found a lot more chances on the counter-attack. "For 60 minutes, we competed very well, and we have to forget the last 30." 

Ancelotti denied the approach had been wrong and dismissed comparisons to the embarrassing defeat by Lille in the Champions League. "I do not regret my game plan. I have been in football 48 years, so I'm not wrong when I tell you that the first half was good," he said. "It's different from the loss against Lille. We were very bad that day. We competed today." He also highlighted what happened the last time Barcelona humiliated Real on home turf. "Last time we lost 4-0 to Barcalona, we won La Liga and the Champions League. We fight on," he added. "We have to learn from this. Self-criticism is fundamental. But we don't throw everything in the bin." However, mentioning that loss without the context surrounding it is misleading. When Barcelona last thrashed their rivals in 2022, Real Madrid was 9 points clear at the top of the table, a full dozen ahead of its opponent that night. In the context of that season's title race, it was something of an anomaly to be discounted almost as soon as the final whistle blew. 

This season's defeat is far more significant as it comes early in the campaign and establishes a 6-point lead for Barcelona at the top of the table. It also points to the greater fallibility at Real Madrid since Kylian Mbappe arrived. Real Madrid's pursuit of Kylian Mbappe was so protracted that last season, the club essentially had no striker while it waited to sign him. In the absence of a top-drawer striker, Carlo Ancelotti demonstrated his underrated tactical nous by devising a system in which Jude Bellingham was the figurehead, capable of scoring goals and holding up the ball to play in Vinicius Junior. The idea that bringing in one of the best players in the world would disrupt the team's performance felt ridiculous. After all, Mbappe was replacing literally no one; he was filling a void. Yet, against teams set up to frustrate, like Lille, and those attempting to dominate, such as Barca, Madrid has been found lacking. In the build-up to the game against Barcelona, Ancelotti was forced to deny suggestions that Mbappe's performances had been anything other than on-point. "We're satisfied," Ancelotti said.

"[Mbappe] has scored goals, he's very important to the team. He's looking for his best form. We aren't in a hurry, and neither is he. Obviously he'll do better, because he has all the qualities to do better." "He has experience, he's often played against Barcelona. He knows what he has to do. "His way of preparing for a game is to be very calm, very straightforward. He believes a lot in his qualities. We're confident that he'll bring something to the team [on Saturday], and so is he." But he didn't, and against Barcelona, it wasn't just Mbappe who looked out of sorts; Jude Bellingham continued his trend of performing less effectively since the Frenchman joined. His manager denied that the less goal-heavy Bellingham was any cause for concern and that it was more a result of a combination of system changes and fitness issues. "He's doing very well, making progress, his condition is very good now even though he's not scoring goals, his job is very important and he knows it very well," Ancelotti said. "Last year we lost an important striker like Karim [Benzema] and we replaced him with the goals of Jude, Brahim [Diaz] and Joselu. Now we have a striker who can score 35 or 40 goals." In the wake of this painful loss comes the moment of truth for this Kylian Mbappe Real Madrid. Ancelotti must prove that these are teething problems and not an indication that the Frenchman's presence has made the team unbalanced like his previous outfit, Paris Saint-Germain, so often did.