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Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso hailed star forward Kylian Mbappe’s influence on the team ahead of the Los Blancos’s first major test in the UEFA Champions League this season against Juventus at the Santiago Bernabeu on Thursday.
Mbappe has started the season from where he left off, scoring 10 goals in nine La Liga games to go with five strikes in the first two UCL matches. However, Alonso believes Mbappe’s role in the team goes much further than that.
Xabi Alonso
“Mbappe’s influence is as important as his goals. His teammates are guided by him with the ball and without the ball. Kylian will always lead our team as the goalscorer, but right now he is having an even bigger impact. He is very intelligent,” said the Spanish coach in the pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
Mbappe will have fond memories of playing against Juventus, having scored four goals in four games against them, scoring once while playing for Monaco and thrice while donning the PSG jersey.
Furthermore, Madrid’s attack will relish taking on Juventus’s defence while they are at a low ebb — the Italian giants have failed to win any of their last six games across all competitions, and come into this match having lost 0-2 to Como.
Nevertheless, Alonso warned his team against taking the Bianconeri lightly. “A few weeks ago, Juve were on a good run of form. But regardless of their recent results, we are ready for a tough game against them. Even when they are going through a tough spell, Juventus are still very dangerous,” added Alonso. Real Madrid shade the head-to-head record having won 10 of their 21 matches. Juventus have won on nine occasions, while two games have ended in a draw.
Kylian, much more than a goal-scorer
89.9%
(successful passes)
Second highest among Real Madrid forwards after Arda Guler
55.3%
(succesful ground duels won)
Second highest among Real Madrid forwards after Arda Guler
1673.5m
(Most distance covered with the ball)
Second highest among Real Madrid forwards after Vinicius Jr
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