The curious case of Kylian Mbappe
Hindustan Times Jammu|December 15, 2024
The World Cup winner has had shockingly bad stats since he joined Real Madrid in July. What will it take to turn this around?
Rudraneil Sengupta
The curious case of Kylian Mbappe

What's going wrong for Kylian Mbappe at Real Madrid? In a word, everything. The French World Cup winner, long considered an exceptional talent, appears to have suddenly forgotten how to play the game.

He shoots into the comfort zones of goalkeepers, a few metres to the left or right of them, or fluffs his shots entirely. Even his penalties are being saved. His legendary bursts of speed and elusive runs into the box are missing; he is currently outpacing and outfoxing no one.

In fact, in the latest El Clasico—Madrid's famed encounter with arch-rivals Barcelona—in October, Mbappe was caught offside eight times, the joint highest such tally by a La Liga player in 15 years.

At 18, Mbappe became the youngest player since Pele to score in a World Cup final (2018). In 2022, he became one of only two in the history of the game to score in two consecutive World Cup finals (the other was Brazil's Vava, in 1958 and '62).

This story is from the December 15, 2024 edition of Hindustan Times Jammu.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the December 15, 2024 edition of Hindustan Times Jammu.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM HINDUSTAN TIMES JAMMUView All
Hindustan Times Jammu

Tough questions for India after two debacles in a row

A second series loss raises more questions than answers as head coach's performance comes under the lens

time-read
6 mins  |
January 08, 2025
Hindustan Times Jammu

Govt Forecasts FY25 GDP Growth at 6.4%

India's economy is expected to grow 6.4% in the current fiscal year ending March, the National Statistics Office said on Tuesday, below the initial government projection of 6.5-7%.

time-read
1 min  |
January 08, 2025
Hindustan Times Jammu

Car sales unexpectedly drop by 2% in December, says Fada

Indian car dealers clocked a surprise 2% drop in sales in December, with high year-end discounts boosting demand only for a handful of showroom owners, a dealers' body said on Tuesday.

time-read
1 min  |
January 08, 2025
Hindustan Times Jammu

Nippon says there's no plan B to blocked US Steel deal

NIPPON'S PLANNED PURCHASE OF ITS US RIVAL WAS BLOCKED LAST WEEK BY THE US PRESIDENT BIDEN

time-read
2 mins  |
January 08, 2025
Hindustan Times Jammu

MKT Benchmarks Rebound After Two-Day Decline As Reliance, ICICI Bank Rally

Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded on Tuesday after a sharp decline in the previous two sessions, driven by intense buying in blue-chip stocks like Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and L&T amid a firm trend in global markets.

time-read
1 min  |
January 08, 2025
Hindustan Times Jammu

Wagh Bakri Tea To Invest ₹100 Cr For New Mfg Unit

Ahmedabad-headquartered Wagh Bakri Tea Group will set up a new plant in Gujarat with an investment of over ₹100 crore to increase its raw material storage capacity and instant tea output, CEO Sanjay Singal said on Tuesday.

time-read
1 min  |
January 08, 2025
Hindustan Times Jammu

Duty cut on smartphone parts to hit electronics ecosystem, jobs

Any reduction in the customs duty on smartphone parts in the forthcoming budget will harm India's developing component ecosystem, discourage investment, increase imports, and make local firms uncompetitive, potentially resulting in job losses, think tank GTRI said on Tuesday.

time-read
1 min  |
January 08, 2025
Hindustan Times Jammu

Infosys taps staff to build ideas factory

In a first, Infosys Ltd has asked employees to think out of the box and come up with new ideas that can be scaled up and offered to clients as part of a business incubator programme.

time-read
2 mins  |
January 08, 2025
Hindustan Times Jammu

Microsoft to Invest $3 Billion in AI, Cloud Expansion in India

CEO Satya Nadella, however, did not give a time frame for the spending

time-read
2 mins  |
January 08, 2025
Hindustan Times Jammu

Banks' profits to moderate in FY26 as bad assets rise

Increase in bad assets will impact banks' profitability in FY26, a domestic rating agency said on Tuesday.

time-read
2 mins  |
January 08, 2025