French star Kylian Mbappé knows exactly how to avoid Barcelona’s offside trap, says Fede Valverde.
In his first El Clásico, Mbappé was largely ineffective, wasting several chances and getting caught offside multiple times. Ahead of another Clásico, his Real Madrid teammate Valverde believes there’s no need to give the French forward advice on how to beat Barcelona’s offside trap.
In October, Real Madrid suffered a 4-0 defeat to Barcelona at home in the season’s first Clásico. Real’s attack struggled against Barcelona’s high defensive line, with Madrid’s players caught offside five times within the first 20 minutes. Mbappé, in particular, was flagged offside eight times, a career high for him.
Now, ahead of the Spanish Super Cup final in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, Real will face Barcelona, the competition’s record 14-time champions. In a press conference the day before the match, Valverde addressed the offside issue, stating that Mbappé, who has scored 14 goals for Real this season, knows exactly what he needs to do.
“He’s a player who has won a World Cup, played in another final, and won everything in France,” Valverde said. “I can’t teach him anything. He’s already a legend and one of the best players in the world—he knows what he has to do.”
“Barcelona is doing well with their high defensive line, but we need to be ready. Our midfielders and defenders need to think more about delivering the right passes to the forwards in front of goal.”
