Real Madrid has a group of amazing attackers, sometimes called the “fantastic four.” They are Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, and Rodrygo Goes. At first, these players had trouble working together this season. But their coach, Carlo Ancelotti, believed in them. Now, they’re doing great and are the team’s biggest strength as they get ready to play their rivals, Atletico Madrid, in a big Champions League game.
The first match happens on Tuesday at Real Madrid’s home stadium, the Santiago Bernabeu. The second game will be on March 12 at Atletico’s stadium, the Metropolitano, in the same city. This is part of the Champions League, a huge tournament where the best teams in Europe compete.
Kylian Mbappe, a super-famous player from France, joined the team this season. Before that, Real Madrid already had Bellingham, Vinicius, and Rodrygo playing well together. It took time for everyone to get used to Mbappe. Ancelotti is known for making his players better. Last year, he switched things up by putting Bellingham, who usually plays in the middle of the field, up front after another player left. It worked—Real Madrid won the Champions League and their Spanish league, La Liga.
This season started rough with Mbappe. The team had to play extra games against Manchester City, the champs from England. But then the fantastic four started shining. They scored six goals over two games against City. Mbappe and Bellingham scored in the away game, and Vinicius was the best player on the field. Then Mbappe scored three goals in the home game, winning 6-3 overall.
Ancelotti says this is when the season gets serious. He’s happy with how hard his attackers are working now. Earlier, he wasn’t pleased because they didn’t help enough on defense. He said, “This is where the season really starts,” meaning the team is finally playing the way he wants.
After beating Manchester City, Ancelotti said, “It was a complete performance by the team from an attacking point of view, and we showed that with the right levels of commitment, we can do anything.” In simple words, he meant the team attacked well and worked hard, which is the key to winning.
But just before this big game, Real Madrid lost 2-1 to Real Betis in their league. Bellingham couldn’t play because he was suspended, and the team seemed distracted, thinking about Atletico. Ancelotti wasn’t happy and said, “If we play like this we will not win on Tuesday.”
Real Madrid has won the Champions League 15 times, more than anyone else. They’ve beaten Atletico in the final before, in 2014 and 2016. Mbappe has been incredible lately, scoring 28 goals in 40 games this season, including seven in the Champions League. He had a tough time earlier, missing some big shots and feeling down, but he worked hard to get better.
Vinicius said in January, “Kylian has arrived to help us and we will help him become top scorer in every tournament.” Vinicius has 18 goals in 36 games, even though he’s not at his best yet. Last year, he was amazing and almost won a huge award called the Ballon d’Or.
Bellingham is back for the Atletico game after missing two league matches. He’s super important because he connects the attack and defense. He has 11 goals in 36 games. Rodrygo, the fourth attacker, has 13 goals in 38 games and is great at dodging defenders. Bellingham said about Rodrygo, “So underrated… for me he’s probably the most talented and most gifted player in the squad.” That means Rodrygo doesn’t get enough credit, but he’s really skilled.
Together, these four have tons of talent and speed to break through any defense. But Ancelotti says they also need to work hard on defense to win. After the Betis loss, he warned, “I hope this game will serve us to improve.”
The game against Atletico Madrid, coached by Diego Simeone, will show if Real Madrid’s fantastic four can keep shining and help the team move forward in the Champions League.
