Kylian Mbappé has publicly committed to turning around Real Madrid’s fortunes after the club’s elimination from the UEFA Champions League at the quarter-final stage, following a defeat to Bayern Munich this week.
Addressing the exit, Mbappé said, “We need to take a hard look at ourselves to avoid this kind of disappointment again. We will never give up! In Madrid, failure has never been and never will be an option.” He added: “I promise one thing. We will start winning again and very SOON,” according to Fabrizio Romano.
Although the Les Bleus captain managed to score in the second leg of the tie, his goal was insufficient to prevent Real Madrid from exiting Europe. The elimination effectively confirms that the 13-time European champions are headed for a second successive major trophyless campaign — a rare outcome for a club of their standing.
Real Madrid’s season has unravelled across all fronts. They have already been knocked out of the Copa del Rey and currently sit nine points behind Barcelona in the LaLiga standings, with only seven matches remaining in the domestic season. The prospect of finishing without silverware in back-to-back years represents a significant setback for a club that won the Champions League as recently as 2024 — before Mbappé’s arrival from Paris Saint-Germain.
The timing of Mbappé’s pledge draws a notable parallel to a similar statement made days earlier by Barcelona teenager Lamine Yamal. The 18-year-old took to Instagram to promise the club’s supporters that the Champions League would return to Catalonia, after Barcelona’s own elimination from the competition at the hands of Atlético Madrid.
However, the scrutiny surrounding Mbappé is intensified by a period of unusually poor form that preceded the Bayern Munich clash. Before scoring in the European exit, the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner had registered just one goal across his previous seven appearances in all competitions — the worst run of his Real Madrid career to date.
His shot conversion rate during that seven-game stretch dropped sharply, falling from an elite 25% to just 4%, a statistical decline that generated considerable debate about his adaptation at the Bernabéu during his debut season and into his second year at the club.
At 27, Mbappé remains one of world football’s most decorated attacking players, but pressure is mounting on him to deliver the tangible on-field results that justified his high-profile, long-anticipated move to Real Madrid. With LaLiga now virtually out of reach and European football concluded for the season, the club’s attention is likely to turn toward squad assessment and preparations for the 2026-27 campaign.
