Real Madrid opened up a three-point lead at the summit of La Liga with a convincing 3-1 victory over arch-rivals Barcelona. Newly-crowned Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema opened the scoring; Federico Valverde and Rodrygo also registered goals for the Champions League holders. Ferran Torres scored Barça's only goal seven minutes from the end of regulation time; however, it proved to be inconsequential. Real's El Clásico win clearly established that in spite of their Catalan rivals' highly productive off-season, Real remain the team to beat in Spain.
Los Merengues' victory comes in the wake of transfer-related news that is likely to alter how teams approach the upcoming mid-season transfer window in January. Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappé supposedly claimed to be interested in leaving the club just months after rebuffing Real to continue his stint at his hometown club. While Mbappé has since denied this, the fact remains that the Pandora's Box has been opened; adding to the intrigue of the situation is that Real have been pursuing his acquisition for several years now.
There is arguably no club in world football right now in which Mbappé would be a better fit than Real. As undoubtedly great as Benzema still is, he will turn 35 in December. His decline will begin sooner or later. At 23, Mbappé could easily take over from his compatriot in the starting line-up once Benzema begins to age out of his peak years, then provide a decade of elite-level production up front - or perhaps even more.
Real could not have provided Mbappé with a better sales pitch. If he indeed decides to leave the Parc des Princes for the Spanish capital and become Benzema's replacement, Real would not only be set up for success in the present, but the future as well. Rodrygo, Valverde, and Vinícius Júnior, like Mbappé, are all in their early 20s. As the would-be "face" of the most successful club in football history, Mbappé would get the media attention and publicity he has always craved. He would be the undisputed leader of Real's attack - the pecking order would be firmly defined. There would not be any potential ego clashes with players like Neymar or Lionel Messi.
Mbappé has openly stated that having already won a World Cup with France, his next major target is the Ballon d'Or. There might be no better avenue for him to do exactly that than by joining Real. If Mbappé were to sign for Real, his arrival would make them the red-hot favourites to win the Champions League. As arguably the best player on the likely victors of Europe's leading club competition, one could scarcely imagine a more favourable scenario for Mbappé to snag football's highest individual honour.
As if all of that weren't enough, Mbappé would be coached by none other than the greatest football coach of all time in Carlo Ancelotti. The upgrade in the dugout that he would experience after leaving Christophe Galtier behind would be monumental. Ancelotti's tactical brilliance and supreme strategic mastery could very well unlock a new level in Mbappé's game - one that sees him truly emerge as one of the greatest strikers of all time.
The match against Barça clearly showed how great Real already are. If what they showed Mbappé were not enough to convince him, one wonders just what would. The only question mark is this: after so many failed attempts to sign him in the past, would this be a case of "once bitten, twice shy"? Though it's difficult to determine if such is so, one would not fault Real for having this line of thinking.
Of course, Real are not the only club in the "Kylian Mbappé Sweepstakes". You could easily argue that he'd be a good fit at teams such as Manchester United and AC Milan as well. However, the combination of team quality, coaching, setup, money, publicity, and title opportunities that is afforded by Real makes them the obvious front-runners to sign Mbappé.
Perhaps Mbappé's recent denial of the transfer rumours around him is genuine - he might not truly want to leave PSG after all. Nevertheless, every major club who can afford his signing is surely on high alert, and especially after this most recent victory, Real Madrid evidently have the inside track once again.
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