Athletic Club 0-3 Real Madrid: Los Blancos end winless run but injuries mar the occasion
Last month Kylian Mbappe dismissed suggestions that Real Madrid were dependent on him. But on Wednesday it would have been difficult not to come to that conclusion after the Frenchman’s superb brace and assist woke Madrid from their snooze with a 3-0 defeat of Athletic Club.
Mbappe now has 25 goals in 22 appearances for Madrid this season. For his first of the game he collected a long diagonal pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold in the seventh minute, scorched past two defenders and then whammed an impossibly sweet shot into the far corner.
It was a goal worthy of a player who wants to be the best in the world. For his second, after the break, he caressed the ball on the edge of the box and then hit it, flat and accurate, into the near post.
In-between his goals, the Frenchman was also on the receiving end of a delicious cross from Alexander-Arnold, nodding back across goal for Eduardo Camavinga to head into an empty net.
This was almost a stroll for Madrid, much welcome for Xabi Alonso after a difficult past month. Athletic tried to look inspired in a few spells and briefly tested Thibaut Courtois, but Madrid always looked comfortable.
But then injuries concerns reared an ugly head towards the end. First Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was brilliant all evening, went down only weeks after returning from a hamstring injury. He was later joined by Camavinga and Alonso panicked and took off Mbappe and Vinicius. It kept the scoreline at just 3-0.
