The past few weeks have been turbulent for Real Madrid. A coaching change, elimination from the Spanish Super Cup, and several poor results in La Liga and the UEFA Champions League have dealt heavy blows to Kylian Mbappe and his teammates.
In that context, Mbappe offered strong comments about Real Madrid’s current situation following the loss to Benfica, which forced Los Blancos into the Champions League playoff round instead of direct qualification to the round of 16: “We aren’t being consistent in our play. We have to solve that. We can’t do it one day and then not another. A team of champions doesn’t do that… It’s about having more desire than your opponent.”
Days later, Predrag Mijatovic gave an interview to Cadena SER and shared a blunt assessment of Real Madrid’s current problems. “I think more than lacking players, what’s missing is a leader. I don’t know, a Sergio Ramos, a Modric, a Benzema, a Fernando Hierro,” said the former Yugoslavia striker. “This current Real Madrid team doesn’t have a leader figure who, in difficult moments, grabs you by the collar and asks, ‘What are you doing?’”
When asked whether the French star could fill that role as the team’s main reference point, Mijatovic was clear. “Mbappe is not a leader,” he said without hesitation. “All of Mbappe’s goals do not make him a leader. Being a leader is something else: it can be a player with less quality, but with personality and character, someone who is the coach on the field and whom the players listen to.”
Mijatovic playing for Real Madrid in 1997.
However, Predrag did acknowledge Mbappe’s qualities. “He’s a tremendous player,” he admitted, before immediately offering an example to explain his point: “You know that Zidane with the French national team was never the leader—Deschamps or Blanc were. He was the best player, but not the leader.”
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Who is Predrag Mijatovic?
There is no doubt that Predrag Mijatovic’s harsh words carry significant weight given who they come from. The Yugoslavia striker was a star of European soccer for years, scoring 176 goals in 534 club appearances.
After standing out in the Yugoslav league, Mijatovic arrived in La Liga in 1993 and quickly made his mark at Valencia. That led to a move to Real Madrid, where he played from 1996 to 1999, making 118 appearances, scoring 36 goals, and winning four titles, including the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League. He later continued his career with Fiorentina and Levante, retiring in 2003.
Mijatovic points the finger at Real Madrid’s players
In the same conversation with Cadena SER, Predrag Mijatovic also offered a diagnosis of who he believes is responsible for Real Madrid’s disappointing season. “We have to start asking whether this can really be fixed by a coach,” he said. “The president is not to blame. I think the players need to wake up a bit and ask themselves how they can improve.”
In that way, the former Montenegro forward made it clear that speculation about Xabi Alonso, Alvaro Arbeloa, or potential new coaches such as Jurgen Klopp or Unai Emery matters little if the players fail to rise to the level required to meet the challenges ahead.
