Real Madrid’s French forward Kylian Mbappe scores his hat-trick during the Spanish league football match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys in Barcelona, on May 11, 2025. (Photo by LLUIS GENE / AFP)
Published: May 12, 2025
Kylian Mbappe scores a hat-trick in El Clasico as Real Madrid fall 4-3 to Barcelona, marking a shift in power and setting the stage for a new era led by the French star.
In what could be described as a symbolic passing of the torch in Spanish football, Real Madrid’s season suffered its final blow on Sunday night as Barcelona staged a thrilling comeback to beat Los Blancos 4-3 in a dramatic El Clasico. While Kylian Mbappe shone brightly with a hat-trick, the night belonged to Barcelona, whose resurgence now sees them sprinting towards another La Liga crown, leaving Real Madrid in their wake.
The defeat at Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium leaves Madrid trailing their rivals by seven points with just three matches remaining, effectively ending any hope of salvaging silverware from a season that began with promise but unravelled spectacularly. Despite Mbappe’s heroics, the French star’s brilliance could not paper over the deep tactical and defensive cracks in Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
Mbappe the Lone Bright Spark
Mbappe’s hat-trick took his league tally to 27 goals, overtaking Robert Lewandowski to top the scoring charts in Spain. He also broke Ivan Zamorano’s long-standing club record for most goals in a debut season, netting his 39th of the campaign across all competitions.
The Frenchman has found the net in every final Madrid reached this season—including the European Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup—but crucially, not in the ones they lost: the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa del Rey. Nonetheless, his consistency in front of goal has been a rare constant in an otherwise turbulent season.
“Mbappe was the only resistance,” wrote Mundo Deportivo on Monday morning. “Madrid faced the Clasico with one tank and 10 tin soldiers, and Barca knocked them all down.”
Even AS, the Madrid-based daily, conceded the new reality: “The team’s flagship figure is Mbappe… among the ‘fantastic four’, undoubtedly the standout.”
A Season of Decline
Madrid’s decline has been steep and painful. After a near-perfect 2023/24 campaign where they lost just twice en route to winning both La Liga and the Champions League, this season they have already suffered 14 defeats—including four against Barcelona alone.
Their struggles to integrate Mbappe alongside Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham, and Rodrygo Goes have defined the season. While all four players are world-class individually, fitting them into a balanced team proved an impossible task for Ancelotti, who appeared increasingly exasperated as the campaign wore on.
“Mbappe did well,” Ancelotti said post-match. “He got in behind their line effectively. But it was quite obvious that we defended badly.”
Madrid’s defence conceded 16 goals across the four Clasico defeats, scoring just seven—five of which came from Mbappe. Neither Vinicius nor Bellingham managed to score in those crucial matchups, exposing Madrid’s overreliance on their new talisman.
Changing of the Guard
With Ancelotti set to leave at the end of the season and be replaced by Bayer Leverkusen’s title-winning coach Xabi Alonso, the incoming boss will inherit both a squad of immense talent and a tactical conundrum.
Vinicius and Rodrygo have struggled for form for months, and Bellingham’s early-season magic has fizzled out. It is now clear that the team’s future will revolve around Mbappe.
“The changing of the guard is real,” AS noted. “Heading into next season, the roadmap is clear: Mbappe and 24 others.”
While Mbappe’s Champions League campaign ended in disappointment—he failed to score in the quarter-final exits to Atletico Madrid and Arsenal—his hat-trick against Manchester City earlier in the tournament offered a glimpse of the dominant force he can become with the right system around him.
Barcelona Rising Again
Barcelona, meanwhile, are finishing the season with renewed purpose. Their comeback from two goals down showcased not only resilience but tactical maturity under Xavi Hernandez. With Lewandowski and new midfield general Gavi orchestrating the fightback, the Catalans displayed a squad on the rise.
Contentious refereeing calls late in the game may have spared Madrid an even more embarrassing scoreline, but the gulf in momentum between the two sides was evident. While Madrid look ahead to a rebuilding year, Barcelona appear ready to return to the summit of Spanish football.
Conclusion
Kylian Mbappe was signed to be the future of Real Madrid. In El Clasico, he reminded the world why. But while his individual brilliance offers hope, Real Madrid’s house must be rebuilt—starting with the defence, the midfield balance, and a clear tactical identity.
As the curtain begins to fall on Ancelotti’s second spell at the Bernabéu, one thing is clear: the era of Mbappe has begun. Whether that leads to a new golden age for Madrid depends on what happens next.
