Alonso's preference for Mbappé over Vini led to Madrid crisis as Kroos denies criticising the French Captain

At Real Madrid, countless stars have come and gone. That is nothing new, nor has it caught the club’s hierarchy by surprise.

But perhaps never before had two talents, obsessed every year with lifting the Ballon d'Or, tried to rule a dressing room at the same time... and in their own way. A galaxy war that has spun out of control after several changes in the dressing room hierarchy and that became more visible than ever after Mbappé's explosive appearance in the latest mixed zone. But it was not always like this.

Mbappé landed in Madrid in the summer of 2024 with clear ideas and the necessary humility. Madrid had just won their Fifteenth, and he had no choice but to adapt to a group that was already working. "My priority now is to adapt to the team, to the collective. When that happens, everything will be easier," he said on his first day. And that is how it was.

He gave in on many things, did not seek to impose his leadership, and began his adventure in white by lifting two titles inherited from the previous season's success. "Vinicius also sent me a lot of messages because he knows me and was telling me to come so we could both play up front" Everything was happiness at that moment. However, his first year was not as many expected. Despite scoring 44 goals, the feeling was strange. The No. 10 seemed not to fully fit into the setup; his impact went beyond the numbers, and the first doubts about his footballing coexistence with Vinicius were beginning to appear. The season also ended without titles and with the departure of Carlo Ancelotti.

Everything changed with the arrival of Xabi Alonso. The coach arrived in Madrid with a firm hand, determined to put an end to certain privileges and steer a delicate situation within the dressing room back on course. From the very beginning, he identified Mbappé as the cornerstone of his sporting project. That was when the internal balances started to shift.

Xabi designed a system in which the Frenchman became the team's main attacking reference, something that pushed Vinicius aside and completely changed his role. The Brazilian, a key figure in the club's recent European successes, began to feel increasingly uncomfortable in that new scenario. And that discomfort became fully visible after his furious reaction to being substituted in the first Clásico of the season. From that moment on, the dressing room started to become a silent powder keg. Although the results were good, the Brazilian's discomfort kept growing, and his body language on the pitch was beginning to reflect that frustration.

Everything ended up exploding when the authority of Xabi Alonso was weakened after the club chose to protect one of its biggest stars in the middle of an internal conflict. His project was wounded, and just seven months later, it ended up collapsing. The departure of the man from Tolosa and the arrival of Arbeloa caused a total shift in the dressing room hierarchy. The new coach arrived with a clear mission: put out the fire and restore internal peace.

To achieve this, he made a radical decision. To give Vinicius absolute prominence again. "I am going to work to get the best Vini. I am going to demand that his teammates look for him and give him the ball", he assured. Arbeloa understood that emotionally recovering the team meant restoring the Brazilian's status... who held sway over a large part of the dressing room. And, as a consequence, Mbappé began to lose some of the weight he had gained during the previous spell.

His role as the undisputed leader faded away in just a few weeks. The Frenchman's injuries and the definitive breakout of Vinicius ended up changing the landscape. That was when the relationship between Arbeloa and Mbappé started to break down for good. And with Madrid, for the second consecutive season, out of the title race, everything began to come to light. The internal tension, the two factions in the dressing room and the accumulated wear and tear, once again first reported by MARCA, began to become evident.

In the midst of it all, Florentino Pérez also appeared to fuel the debate even further. "Mbappé is the best player Madrid has right now", he stated. Affection and backing for the Frenchman above Vinicius, who still has not renewed a contract that expires in 2027. However, the final row was yet to come. And it was Mbappé who ended up blowing the silence apart. The Frenchman asked to speak, broke protocol, and stood before the media to deliver his message.

"I prefer to speak here, with my mouth. That makes it clearer", he assured. Mbappé gave free rein to questions in the mixed zone at the Bernabéu, and the first blow was quick to arrive. "I haven't played because the coach told me that I am the fourth striker in the squad. I have to work to be better than Vini, Mastantuono and Gonzalo..." A direct message to Arbeloa, who had to respond minutes later without knowing what was happening just meters from the press room.

'"I may not have understood him well. The truth is that I don’t know what to tell you because at no point can I tell him he is the fourth forward. If I don’t put him in, he can’t play, that’s clear because I am the coach and I decide who plays and who doesn’t," he stated. But the phrase that did the most damage came afterwards. "We started the season well, we had everything. Then we lost everything in the second half. It hurts a lot because we had a structure and a game plan, but we lost everything."

A statement that pointed directly to the change brought about after Arbeloa's arrival. "It hurts because we had the opportunity to do something better; we showed it in the first part of the season," he concluded. Before that public outburst, Arbeloa had already left several messages that directly touched the Frenchman's pride.

Meanwhile, Madrid legend Toni Kroos didn't need a statement, a thread, or a long explanation to put out the latest fire circulating on social media around Real Madrid.

 One word was enough. “Lie.” That was how the former German midfielder responded to a viral post that attributed to him some very harsh remarks against Kylian Mbappé over his alleged public complaints following a decision by Arbeloa.'

The original message claimed that Kroos had “lashed out” at the French forward for complaining to the media after being left out, and it even included a long quote in which the German supposedly spoke about Real Madrid’s internal codes, respect for the coach, and that “the badge comes first”. A perfectly constructed narrative, but one that Kroos himself took it upon himself to tear down with a brief and forceful response.

The episode once again puts the spotlight on the controversies surrounding the White club. Even more so when names like Kroos, Mbappé, Arbeloa and Real Madrid are mixed, a perfect combination to make any post go viral. But this time the denial came from the clearest possible source. Kroos said little, but enough: “Lie”.