Mbappe, Haaland and Bellingham NOT WORTHY of Messi-Ronaldo comparisons

We found ourselves at the defining stage of the Champions League this week and the three biggest Ballon d’Or contenders were nowhere to be found.

Quarter-finals come with extra scrutiny and this week brought heavyweight clashes with Manchester City visiting Real Madrid and Barcelona taking on Paris Saint-Germain.

The stage was set by broadcasters and online media for Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham to showcase their credentials.

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It was in the latter stages of the Champions League where Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo used to earn their reputations, before humiliation set in during the dog days of their Barcelona and Real Madrid careers respectively.

But this week brings with it a sense of bemusement that these three are the ones supposed to be taking up the best-in-the-world mantle.

Mbappe is now well into the prime of his career, no longer the eager young steed who tore up the Champions League back in 2017 for Monaco.

Mbappe goes missing when PSG need him most

He has some outstanding displays on his record in this competition, including decisive contributions against Real Sociedad across both legs of the previous round, but he missed his big opportunity to shine on Wednesday night as PSG slipped to a 3-2 defeat.

Mbappe has brought a lot of attention to himself and his performances this calendar year with the bombshell news that he intends to depart PSG at the end of the season.

Luis Enrique, the manager, no longer seems to be putting up with his superstar behaviour, thinking nothing of replacing the World Cup winner whenever the notion takes him.

Mbappe is very much expected to leave on a high note by the club that still pays him so handsomely, with no confirmation of his future intentions expected until the conclusion of this season is apparent.

Well, PSG might well be out of the Champions League sooner rather than later if the first leg is anything to go by.

Barcelona under Xavi, during the manager’s own last dance, look unified, hard-working and committed. Those words over the years you’d not normally associate with Mbappe’s PSG.

He had only one shot against Barca at the Parc des Princes and it was off target. Instead it was left to players like Ousmane Dembele, a hitherto very ordinary PSG signing, and Vitinha to carry the fight to the Catalans.

Mbappe looked despondent at the end of the game, surely in the realisation that another opportunity to present himself definitively as the best in the world had again passed him by.

If he is to step into the breach left by Messi and Ronaldo, his record at this stage of the competition is going to have to improve.

Not since the 2020-21 season has he been that electrifying threat in the latter stages of the Champions League, when he netted a hat-trick in the first leg and another goal in the second leg against Barcelona in the last-16 and two more in the quarters against Bayern.

Even in the year when PSG reached the final, back in 2020, it occurred largely without Mbappe troubling the scoreboard in the knockouts.

He comes with baggage, something Real Madrid will no doubt be well aware of, but his current output at the highest level doesn’t warrant the indulgence.

Haaland a passenger against Real Madrid

Haaland, meanwhile, tends to embellish his goals-per-game record by striking heavily in one match here and there and then embarking on goalless streaks.

He’s only scored five Premier League goals since January but did flesh out his numbers with an FA Cup five-goal haul against Luton Town.

The Norwegian was a passenger at best on Tuesday night at the Bernabeu, in a performance that might well have some Madrid fans questioning his side’s relentless chase for his signature either this summer or next.

He had one shot in the first half, well saved by Andriy Lunin, but only had 20 touches of the ball overall.

Haaland was powerless watching the game pass him by with other City stars like Bernardo Silva and the incredible Phil Foden taking responsibility for getting a result in the Spanish capital.

Again, four goals against Young Boys in the group stages will only get you so far in the conversation for best player on the planet.

More is required from Haaland, especially in the biggest games, where Foden looks far more at home.

And what of Jude Bellingham?

Bellingham’s form has tailed off

While still a darling of the Madrid and British media, there is no doubt that his form has fallen off since his amazing start to the season.

His goalscoring output has diminished considerably and his limitations as a central midfield player at the elite level are being shown up when he is asked to pitch in and not act as a deep-lying striker.

Against City, he again demonstrated why he is getting a reputation as a bit of a diver and wasted the ball too often when Madrid were trying to get out from defence.

“Another off-colour match for Bellingham, which has come in a decisive run of games for the season, “ was Marca's analysis.

"Against Man City, he tried but he lacked energy and spark.

“Is he playing badly? No, but he’s not the star Real Madrid needs to win the Champions League.”

It was in many ways a performance befitting an emerging 20-year-old, and not the superstar-in-waiting as we have become accustomed to seeing throughout his maiden Madrid campaign.

All three could turn around and decide the second leg in a heartbeat and the onus is certainly on them to do so.

Perhaps we got spoiled in the Messi-Ronaldo era when it redefined what a “match winner” truly meant.

Among the current crop of Ballon d’Or contenders, we don’t seem to have one for the biggest matches.