Real Madrid vs Benfica: Can Madrid Survive Without Mbappé?

by Tyler Doty | by Tyler Doty

image Real Madrid vs Benfica: Can Madrid Survive Without Mbappé?
Victorious in the first leg, Real Madrid heads into this Champions League playoff return leg with a valuable advantage over Benfica. At the Santiago Bernabeu, Los Blancos will be in a good position to secure their place in the round of 16. However, Alvaro Arbeloa will have to cope with a last-minute absence, and not just any absence, but that of Kylian Mbappé. This major setback could reignite the suspense in this two-legged tie.

Real Madrid vs Benfica: Los Blancos in a strong position ahead of the second leg

Real Madrid kept their cool in the first leg in Lisbon last week. In a tense match that lived up to expectations, Los Merengues showed their strength to bring home a valuable victory from the Estadio da Luz (1-0), giving Alvaro Arbeloa's players the advantage for the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, where they will attempt to prove our Real Madrid vs Benfica prediction right.

All their efforts in Portugal seemed to have taken their toll on Vinicius Jr's teammates, who lost in La Liga over the weekend, relinquishing first place to their rivals Barcelona. Were their minds already on this second clash with the Lisbon side?

In two years, Real Madrid has not won in the Champions League when Kylian Mbappé was not in the starting lineup.

After being dominated in front of their home crowd a week ago, Benfica knows that tonight's task in the Spanish capital will be particularly difficult. However, José Mourinho's players remain confident, and their performance in the first leg, where Vangelis Pavlidis and his teammates gave Madrid a run for their money, gives them hope that they can turn around a difficult situation.

What's more, their opponents Real Madrid will have to cope without their top scorer, Kylian Mbappé. And when the French striker has been absent or hasn't started Champions League games, his team has often struggled...

Life without Kylian Mbappé: The stats sowing doubt in Madrid

The news broke on Tuesday evening: Kylian Mbappé, suffering from a knee injury, will be absent for the second leg of the play-off against Benfica, and possibly for the Merengues' next few games. His absence could complicate matters for Madrid in this second clash with the Portuguese side. Especially since the statistics do not favor the most successful club in the Champions League.

Since joining Real Madrid, Kylian Mbappé has missed two Champions League starts, against Lille last season and Manchester City this season. The result? Defeats of 1-0 against Les Dogues and 2-1 against the Skyblues!

This statistic is in line with those of the French team captain when he was still playing for PSG, where the three games he did not start for the Parisian club in the Champions League also ended in three defeats against Leipzig, Manchester City, and Bayern.

These figures highlight Real Madrid's dependence on Kylian Mbappé (and PSG before that) on the continental stage and, at the same time, give Benfica hope for the return leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.