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Real Madrid End-of-Season Player Ratings: Mbappe’s 8.5/10 tops the attacking grades
Real Madrid, over the years, have been synonymous with goals simply because of the sheer quality they boast of in their front-line. With the biggest names in the sport always at the club, scoring goals has never really been their Achilles heel.
For the first time in a long while, however, that appeared to be a hurdle for Los Blancos this season as they failed to find the back of the net as seamlessly as they usually do.
With Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. leading the front line, Los Blancos had the best in the business to handle their attacking matters for them. Yet, the season exemplified that names are nothing in football without synergy.
Madrid Universal brings you the 2025-26 season ratings of Real Madrid’s forwards from the recently concluded campaign.
Kylian Mbappe
There are two aspects to Mbappe’s second season at Real Madrid – the statistical takeaway and the practical scenario, both of which do not quite go hand in hand.
At a time when the squad around him was struggling for goals, fitness, and form, Mbappe stepped up time and time again as Real Madrid’s top goalscorer, and at one point in the season, he was responsible for more than half of the team’s goals.
His efficiency in front of goal was exceptional throughout the season irrespective of the venue, opposition, or competition, and his class as an elite finisher was on full display. He finished the season with 42 goals and six assists including 25 goals in La Liga.
The practical reality, however, began to come to light towards the end of the season when it became clear that Mbappe’s lack of defensive responsibility was affecting the team’s greater good.
Furthermore, a knee injury had an impact on his performances in the second half of the season, while there were also clear signs of a divide in the dressing room – all of which leave a bittersweet ending to his season.
Season rating: 8.5
Vinicius Jr.
The 25-year-old Brazilian entered the season with a renewed role as an on-field leader and captain, especially with Dani Carvajal not regularly playing and Luka Modric leaving.
While his metrics were not poor in any sense, he lacked his usual quality and consistency down the left flank that has been known for over the years.
The player did not see too many injury breaks or troubles over the course of the season, and his domestic season was not too bad with 16 goals and five assists. In fact, his isolated plays were often the team’s only attacking outlet when the midfield failed.
However, Vinicius did not finish the season as convincingly as he would have liked, and it is clear that the emotional weight of the chaotic environment around him took its toll.
One must not forget, moreover, that he was far from his best in a behavioural sense and that he, if reports are to be believed, was directly responsible for initiating the cascade that led to Xabi Alonso’s dismissal.
Season rating: 7.5
Rodrygo
Rodrygo’s season was deeply painful with the first half being plagued by a struggle for prominence and the second half seeing him face a gruesome ACL injury.
The beginning of the season was rough for the Brazilian star as he had to fight for minutes under Xabi Alonso who took a clear liking for Franco Mastantuono over him.
Eventually, his moment arrived in the winter when he stepped up and claimed a place in Alonso’s plans. The manager, however, was sacked soon after being forced back to square one.
Just when it seemed like the player was making a case to be a regular starter and that he had recovered from tendinitis, he suffered an ACL tear that ended his season for good.
Season rating: 5
Franco Mastantuono
The Argentine prodigy was under the spotlight as one of the team’s new signings from last summer, but it served as a cruel but much-needed reminder of how moving to Europe is not the fairytale it is projected to be.
Arriving as one of the brightest talents of his country and continent, Mastantuono was expected to gel into Real Madrid seamlessly. Over the course of the season, however, he was humbled and reminded of why playing under pressure is not for everybody.
His season began with decent promise and prominence under Alonso with the player even making an impact in games in La Liga. As the big games began to arrive, however, he slowly began being relegated to the bench.
A bout of pubalgia towards the end of 2025 then took a hit on his continuity, and he never really returned. By the time he returned, there was a new manager at the helm who no longer trusted him, and he too looked out of his depth on the field.
As the months passed, his campaign went from bad to worse, leaving him staring at the possibility of a loan exit and with a snub from the Argentine national team for the FIFA World Cup.
Season rating: 6
Gonzalo Garcia
The 2025/26 campaign was Garcia’s breakout campaign, especially after his impressive FIFA Club World Cup, and the management decided to take a bet on him as Kylian Mbappe’s deputy.
Under Alonso, he was used as a high-impact substitute regularly who stepped up fearlessly and delivered for the team. His hat-trick in Real Madrid’s 5-1 win over Real Betis marked his best moment in the season.
When Alonso left and Arbeloa took over, however, the youngster’s season began to look bleak, and his output in front of goal drastically took a hit as well.
Season rating: 6.5
Brahim Diaz
Diaz was used as Real Madrid’s tactical asset throughout the season and was incredibly effective and professional throughout the course of the campaign. All that stopped him from reaching his ceiling was the sheer number of star players ahead of him.
Under both managers, Brahim served as the ultimate ‘Swiss knife’ and helped plug holes across the field with no complaints. He was an impact substitute for most of the season barring the portion where Kylian Mbappe was injured.
Across his 42 total appearances, the player had just 17 starts with two goals and seven assists to show. He served as a creative presence in Real Madrid’s otherwise dry buildup play and ended the season with some doubts around his future.
Season rating: 7
Not many saw the result that unfolded at the Estadio de La Cartuja last night coming, as Real Madrid slipped to a shocking 1-0 defeat to Real Betis.
Jose Mourinho made a couple of changes to his team on the night but fielded one of his strongest possible XIs, acknowledging the difficulty of the challenge Los Verdiblancos posed.
The first half ended scoreless, with the visitors completely dominating the flow of the game but failing to convert their chances. After the break, they only upped the ante and pressed higher to break the deadlock.
Almost against the flow of the game, however, Troy Parrott fired from very close range to put his side ahead through a set-piece, and Real Madrid had just ten minutes to find two goals.
A hard-fought ten minutes, a disallowed goal and a missed penalty later, however, the full-time whistle blew with Real Madrid staring at defeat.
Madrid Universal brings you three takeaways from Real Betis 1-0 Real Madrid.
A first loss under Mourinho
Real Madrid’s lacunae were visible in the team’s first away clash of the new season when they took home a last-gasp win over Espanyol.
They looked comfortable at home, but it has always been clear that they are not invincible.
A first defeat of the season, in that sense, was always just a matter of time as the team continued to develop under Jose Mourinho, and that setback appeared early in the campaign last night.
The defeat to Real Betis at the Estadio de La Cartuja continued Real Madrid’s trend of struggling away from home and exposed the team’s lacunae to the world once more.
A lot can be said about the refereeing and how the result was harsh on Los Blancos, but the fact of the matter remains that a team with the talent that Real Madrid possesses simply has no excuses to look so blunt in attack.
Jose Mourinho’s men created chances in abundance on the night, but none of the team’s star forwards could effectively finish a single chance.
Kylian Mbappe had a rare off-night and even Jude Bellingham did not score from any of his three shots. Vinicius Jr., Arda Guler, Yan Diomande and Carlos Espi all had their chances, but all failed to bury even a single chance.
In the end, it can be called misfortune, but for Real Madrid to have made nothing of an xG of 3.46 and to miss a penalty in the same game has to be dug into. The players did not play poorly, but the lack of a lethal finish came back to bite them.
Mbappe’s controversial penalty
Real Madrid had a massive chance to salvage something from the frustrating night in the 94th minute when the referee awarded the visitors a penalty that would see them return to level terms.
Kylian Mbappe stepped up, and it was taken for granted that the Frenchman would score as usual. Astonishingly, however, Mbappe did not find the back of the net.
For starters, it must be said that the Merengues have no one to blame but themselves for the defeat to Real Betis, for they could not have had a clearer chance to steal at least a point away from the night.
However, there was a clear element of controversy in the spot-kick that must not be misinterpreted as an excuse.
At the precise moment that Mbappe struck the ball from the spot, a Real Betis player was half inside the penalty area with his foot in the air.
Had the player’s foot been on the ground, the penalty would certainly have been retaken, and had he been outside the area, the save would be deemed completely fair. His foot being airborne, yet inside the box, however, opens up a grey area.
The referee on the night believed that having the foot in the air did not warrant a retake, and saw Real Madrid lose their penalty.
However, there are strong grounds to claim that it should have been retaken as his foot being inside the box takes precedence over whether it was grounded or not.
Had the referee’s decision gone differently, one would have backed Mbappe to come good the second time and Real Madrid would have avoided the defeat.
Alvaro Valles deserves his flowers
For Real Madrid to create seven big chances, have 20 shots and an xG of 3.46, and yet not score is simply absurd. But it happened last night against Los Verdiblancos, and only one man stood in between Real Madrid and the scoresheet – Alvaro Valles.
The Real Betis goalkeeper delivered the performance of his lifetime as he stopped chance after chance and denied the visitors any sight of goal.
In 90 minutes, Valles made a staggering six saves, all of which came from inside the box, and prevented a direct xG of 2.98. In simpler terms, Real Madrid should have scored three goals past him with the quality of chances they had, but he directly stopped them all.
Further, Valles saved Mbappe’s penalty under the highest of pressure in a moment that was simply the crowning moment of his entire night.
On a different night, with a different goalkeeper, the outcome of the game could well have been very different.
Valles, however, deserves every bit of praise he is earning for his performance last night, and even Real Madrid fans have no option but to stand and applaud the shift he put in for ninety minutes.
