5 defeats pile on the pressure

Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappé is putting up flawless numbers in the 2026-2027 season. Twelve goals in 12 matches: nine in nine La Liga games, three in three Champions League outings.

Now Real Madrid's top scorer turns his attention to Barcelona, at a stadium where he has long shone. He has scored eight goals in just three visits, five in a Paris Saint-Germain shirt and three in a Real Madrid one. Yet his collective record against the Catalans makes grim reading: three wins and six defeats in 10 matches.

Those numbers haven't improved in white. Since arriving in Spain in 2024, Mbappé has lost five of the six Clásicos he has played.

According to the Spanish newspaper "Marca", Mbappé is confident he can flip that equation on Sunday, a task for which Real Madrid lean heavily on the Frenchman's goals.

His start to the campaign reads as perfect, with at least one goal in every match. Dig a little deeper, though, and his name was missing from Madrid's scoresheet in both defeats so far, against Real Betis and Atlético Madrid.

Arda Güler summed it up after the win over Leipzig: "I stole the goal from Mbappé because I knew he would score afterwards."

The Turk had bundled in the second that night against the Germans, flicking the ball over the line with his heel after a Mbappé header was already on its way in.

None of it bothered Mbappé. He celebrated Güler's goal with a grin, his own turn having already arrived: a Diomande pass from the left let him control, then lash a powerful right-footed shot into the top-left corner.

As he does in most matches, Mbappé stole the limelight anyway. Before the Champions League tie he sat just three goals shy of his 100th in a Real Madrid shirt, and he is now closing in fast.

A brace at Barcelona would get him there. It sounds exceptional, but for Kylian it is close to routine. On his first visit to the Barça stadium in 2021 he scored a hat-trick, then netted twice when he returned three years later, again in a Paris Saint-Germain shirt.

He went one further in 2024-2025, this time in a Real Madrid shirt at Montjuïc. Another hat-trick, and still not enough, as the hosts won 4-3.

At Barcelona, Mbappé is also defending the La Liga top-scorer title for a second straight season. Both crowns from his first two years in white are under threat from Barcelona players, who have made an exceptional start of their own.

Raphinha leads the race by three goals, 12 to Mbappé's nine, while Lamine Yamal is snapping at the Frenchman's second place on eight.

How that three-way fight plays out could shape Sunday's result. Mbappé walks in on his best scoring form, and at a stadium that has long been a stage for his brilliance.