Softfootball reports that Kylian Mbappé didn’t hold back. After smashing four goals past Olympiacos in Real Madrid’s wild 4–3 Champions League win yesterday, the French star dismissed ongoing claims that Madrid are “dependent” on him.
The question, which popped up again during the post-match press conference in Greece, clearly irritated him. Mbappé called it a bad question, adding that the whole idea of an Mbappé dependency is mostly something made up by journalists.
Sports expert Fabrizio Romano, in a tweet made via his official X account, quoted Mbappe, who highlighted that every member of the team has a defined role, and his is to score goals.
Fabrizio Posted:
Kylian Mbappé: Is there an Mbappé dependency? No disrespect to you, but this is a bad question.
Each person has his own job in the team; my job is to score goals. Without our players, we don’t win games.
I don’t think about this; I think it’s a thing for journalists.
The timing of the question wasn’t random. Real Madrid had gone three straight matches without a win, two losses to Liverpool and Elche, plus a draw with Rayo Vallecano, and Mbappé didn’t score in any of them.
For critics, the pattern looked obvious: no Mbappé goals, no Madrid victories. His explosive return in Athens naturally reignited the whole debate; Mbappé had earlier backed current manager Xabi Alonso amidst criticism for the team’s recent slips, and now he has highlighted how a team needs its different components to succeed.
Instead of dodging responsibility, Mbappé leaned into it in a surprisingly honest way. He told reporters that if people want to talk about blame, he’s part of that conversation too.
Meanwhile, manager Xabi Alonso has repeatedly said Real Madrid need more ways to win when Mbappé isn’t on the scoresheet.
But nights like this, four goals in a Champions League match away from home, show why the dependency narrative is so hard to shake. Still, Mbappé insists it’s a team thing, not a one-man show, even on evenings where he steals all the headlines.
