Mbappé: "Starting the Champions League at the Bernabéu is an extra motivation"

Mbappé appeared at the Ciudad Real Madrid ahead of the team's Champions League opener against Inter Milan at the Bernabéu (Tuesday, 9:00 pm CEST; Orange TV and Movistar Plus+). The forward analyzed the match: "We are very happy to be playing a Champions League match again. We always approach this competition with great enthusiasm and determination. Starting at the Bernabéu is an added motivation. We are in good shape, and it is going to be a very demanding match. This is the Champions League, and it is an enormous pleasure to play in this competition."

His connection with Vini Jr. and Bellingham
“It’s just one opinion out of the millions out there about the biggest and most famous club. I can’t control everything that’s said. We have the same goal, and that’s to help Real Madrid win matches and titles. We try to focus on what we can control, but we can’t control people’s opinions. We listen to feedback when people share their opinions and try to improve and move forward. I have a broader vision, which is about how to bring out the best version of the 11 players who will play each match. I know people enjoy that, just like journalists do, and it’s completely normal because that’s what sells. But for us, for me, the focus is always on thinking as a team and figuring out how we can improve and be ready for those crucial moments when titles are won or lost.”

Are you indebted to Madrid?
“I think about the upcoming matches and not the long term because every day is an experience at Real Madrid. My focus is on how I can be ready for tomorrow’s game against Inter and help my team win the first match and start the Champions League well because it is an important competition for us.

Ballon d'Or
“When you play for the best club in the world, people naturally associate you with these kinds of awards, both team and individual. Many people on the street talk to me about the Ballon d'Or and mention me as a possible winner, and it's an award that is a positive topic for any player. I made a lot of history this summer in the most important competition in sports, but we’ll see. I feel like this is a good year for that, but there’s still a lot of time, and people are free to vote for who they think is the best player in the world.”

Do you consider yourself the best in the world?
“Always, but that’s something very personal. Everyone has their own opinion. Some might think I am the best in the world, while others might not. I don’t think everyone has to think like me. Of course, I think this year could be a good year to win the Ballon d'Or, but as I said earlier, it’s the journalists who will vote.”

Improving defensively
Is it just Vini Jr. and me, or the whole team? Of course, we need to improve, and I think that’s completely natural. I could play dumb and tell you that I score more goals than the two players you mentioned and that they need to score more goals to be like me. Everyone is different. But I want to do things intelligently and say that, of course, I need to improve, but I don’t like to compare because I think I’ve done many things others haven’t. If we go into this topic, it’s an endless debate. I agree that, of course, all the Real Madrid players need to improve in this aspect to help the defense, and we can concede fewer chances and fewer goals. I also think that with the ball, we need to manage things better to create more scoring opportunities, do things right, and... that’s the life of a high-level team that wants to be the best in the world. There are many things you have to improve on every day, and that’s how it is.”

Has Mourinho improved the locker room atmosphere, which was said not to be the best?
“It’s very difficult to answer a question that starts with ‘it is said.’ Who says it? Everyone says something. I can also say things about you, but that doesn’t mean it’s true. What Mourinho has and has had throughout his career is that he’s a guy who knows how to win and how to bring a group together. He knows how to motivate an entire club and group to go in the same direction and win matches. Do you feel the locker room wasn’t good last year? It’s the same as last year. The only difference is a new coach, and the atmosphere has always been the same. We’re preparing for the season in the best way possible. We lost against Betis, but we played well, and the only thing was that we failed to score goals, which is the most important thing in football. It’s my responsibility to score goals. The rest is calm within the team because I think we’re in a positive process. We need to improve, but we’re very calm.”

Would you take scoring 40 goals this season and winning titles?
“I’d even take fewer: 30 with titles. I’m not going to say this is a debate for people who don’t play football, but for me, it’s an absurd debate. If I reach 40, am I going to stop scoring goals just so people are right because I scored 40 or because otherwise, we won’t win titles? I don’t know, I ask, because sometimes we players don’t know the information from outside. I prefer to win titles, and of course, if I have to choose between the two, I choose 40 with titles over 60 without them. I always want to score goals and win titles. For me, it’s not a debate, and you don’t have to choose since you can do both.”

France's elimination from the World Cup semifinals by Spain
“The national team and the club are two different contexts, but not winning the World Cup was a tough moment for us. I’ve lost a World Cup final, a Champions League final; a semifinal isn’t more important than a final. I think it was a very positive competition for us, and we created this connection with the country, which was delighted with how we played, the atmosphere, the energy the team brought, and the image we gave of the country worldwide. We’ve already won a World Cup, but we can’t win all the time. We always have the hunger to win because the day you lose that hunger is the day to retire.”

Do you feel the need to take on more of a leadership role in the team?
“I have two different roles, both with the national team and with Real Madrid. They’re two different contexts, but in each, I have to step up. I’m the captain for the national team, but I’m not here. As a player, I want to improve, not just for France or Madrid, but because of how I perceive the game, whether we’re in a moment of attack, dominance, or a more challenging phase, the way we manage emotions. I’ve had many coaches with completely different visions of the game, and that has greatly helped my way of reading the game, seeing how we can adapt to each situation, as there are so many in a match. I always say there are many matches within a match. There are moments when you have the advantage, moments when the other team has a moment of fire... and this management, the way you handle it, gives you maximum information to be at your best. That’s daily work, yearly work I’ve had, which becomes clearer with experience. It’s something I always want to work on because it’s something you work on every day.”

Is it unfair that people link your departure from PSG to them winning two Champions League titles?
“I can’t speak in general terms because there are different analyses, but honestly, I don’t really care. I know how to analyze football. I don’t think I know everything about football, but sometimes it’s not even analysis but things that sell, that make people talk about you, and I think talking about me sells a lot. So, fine, let them talk about me, whether it’s positive or negative.”

Disclaimer: Translation generated by artificial intelligence. It may contain inaccuracies.