In the 5th round of the Champions League group stage, Real Madrid defeated Olympiacos 4-3. After the game, in an interview in the mixed zone, Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé stated that the team is highly united.
On how you’re feeling right now:
Extremely happy. I’m very pleased with the win and the goal. After three winless games, getting back to winning ways is crucial, especially an away Champions League victory – it’s a positive step for us.
There has been a lot of discussion about Xabi Alonso’s relationship with the players:
I think we have to be honest: we are very united. Life isn’t always perfect, and it’s normal to have some changes when a project or coach changes. I don’t think everything said externally is reasonable. Yes, we’re Real Madrid, and people will always talk about us – that’s not a bad thing, it’s life. But we players must support each other, support the coach, support the staff, and stay united. Because we can achieve great things this season.
Does everyone support Xabi Alonso?
It’s obvious. Tonight you could see everyone gave their all and fought with great spirit. Not only for the coach, but also because we have always firmly believed in supporting him, and we want to prove that we are always hungry for victory. We didn’t do that in the past three games, and we know that’s very difficult for a club like Real Madrid. But we came here, in an away Champions League game, to compete. We won a very important match.
The team has scored 40 goals this season, with you contributing 22. Do you think Real Madrid has a Mbappé dependency?
I think that’s a ridiculous claim. No offense, but that’s a bad question. Everyone has their role in the team, and my job is to score goals. Just like we wouldn’t win without the other players. Every team has players responsible for specific tasks, and mine is to score – that’s what I can do for the team. But I don’t think about this so-called dependency; that’s a topic for journalists or people outside the team.
But you didn’t score against Liverpool or Rayo Vallecano, and Real Madrid didn’t win either:
Yes, but you shouldn’t say “dependency” – you should say I’m responsible, because we didn’t win, and my job is to score. That’s what you should say, not “dependency”. Mbappé didn’t score, so he has to score.
Are you satisfied with the team’s performance?
It’s hard to evaluate the “performance” because I was on the pitch the whole time and it’s difficult to see everything clearly from there. But I think we showed a positive image – we wanted to fight for this badge, we were here to compete. Winning an away game in the Champions League is always a positive sign.
What happened on those losing nights?
You saw what happened: we didn’t play well. Sometimes things are that simple. When we don’t perform, we can’t win. But we’ve seen the problem, we know it, and we’re improving.
That header was great:
I don’t score many headers! The pass was perfect, giving me enough time to look up and shoot.
