Kylian Mbappe is entering a defining month in his Real Madrid career, with La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League all still on the table and the Frenchman yet to win a major trophy since his blockbuster move to the Bernabeu.
The international break is done. The run in is here. And for Mbappe, the timing could not be more critical.
He has barely featured in the past month due to a knee injury, watching from the sidelines as his teammates kept the season on the rails. But now he is back and Madrid need their main man firing on all cylinders.
Because despite his stunning personal tally of 38 goals this term, the trophy cabinet at Valdebebas remains frustratingly bare when it comes to the big ones.
Yes, he has collected a UEFA Super Cup and an Intercontinental Cup. Nice trinkets. But the Frenchman did not leave Paris Saint Germain for souvenir trinkets.
He came to win everything. To follow in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo. To lift the big trophies La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the one with the big ears.
Right now, all three are still within reach.
The state of play
Madrid sit just four points behind Barcelona in the league standings. Catchable. Very catchable.
In the Copa del Rey, they are into the semi finals. In the Champions League, a heavyweight quarter final against Bayern Munich awaits.
It is a run in that could define seasons and careers.
Mbappe’s arrival at the Bernabeu has coincided with a period of tactical readjustment under Alvaro Arbeloa. The side has not always had the ruthless consistency of the Ancelotti years. There have been stutters. Questions asked.
But here they are, still in the hunt for everything, with their best player returning at exactly the right moment.
The final piece
Vinicius Jr. is in peak form. Fede Valverde is running through walls. Jude Bellingham is back fit and dictating games.
What Madrid have been missing is that explosive, game breaking presence that Mbappe brings. The guy who can turn a tight 0-0 into a 2-0 win in the space of five mad minutes.
“Decisive month,” MARCA calls it. And they are not wrong.
For Mbappe personally, this is the period that could define his first two seasons in Spain. He came here to win. Not to be remembered as the guy who scored 38 goals in a season that ended with nothing.
The knee is behind him. The break is over. Now comes the business end.
If Madrid go on to lift multiple trophies between now and June, Mbappe will be at the centre of it. If they fall short, the questions will start quietly at first, then louder.
No pressure, then.
