JAKARTA - The M Real Madrid duo, Mbappe and Mastantuono, scored goals while beating AS Monaco 6-1 in a Champions League qualifying match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Wednesday, January 21, 2026 WIB. The victory brought Madrid to second place in the standings.
Madrid cemented the winning path under new coach Alvaro Arbeloa. Replacing Xabi Alonso, he led Madrid to a second victory.
In Arbeloa's debut, Madrid had to swallow a 3-2 defeat against LaLiga 2 club Albacete which made them eliminated in the Copa del Rey. However, Madrid bounced back in the Spanish LaLiga competition by defeating Levante 2-0. After winning in the domestic competition, Madrid showed superiority when hosting Monaco.
Even Madrid was ahead when the match only lasted five minutes through Kylian Mbappe who then scored a brace.
Not only Mbappe, but young star Franco Mastantuono also contributed a goal. Mastantuono is an Argentine young star who joined Madrid in August 2025. However, this 18-year-old player rarely gets the chance to be a starter when Madrid is still managed by Alonso.
However, Mastantuono became the youngest player in the club's history to play in the Champions League when he was brought on against Marseille.
Furthermore, Arbeloa made him a starter on the right wing and Vinicius Junior played on the left in the match against Monaco. They supported Mbappe who faced his former club. Yes, Mbappe had defended Monaco in 2015 to 2018 before moving to Paris Saint-Germain.
In the match, Madrid showed the best performance. The slick offensive game of Los Merengues made fans immediately forget the disappointing results of the team in the last few matches, including in the final of the Spanish Super Cup and when playing against Levante. Even Vinicius Jr was the target of boos because he played below his performance.
But this time, Vinicius Je seems to be back to his best form when handled by Carlo Ancelotti. He not only scored a goal but also made an assist.
"We have been facing a difficult situation for the last few days. Especially with what I experienced after being booed. Everything is finally about me," Vinicius said as quoted by france24.
"What is clear is that I am trying to do my best for this uniform, for the club that has given me everything," he said again.
Arbeloa was not shy to praise his players who showed quality and mentality. "Players who won the game with effort and quality," said Arbeloa.
"I like their attitude and quality. This mentality and ambition is what fans want to see," he said.
Appearing in front of their own supporters, Jude Bellingham et al. seemed to want to show maximum performance by playing offensively. The match had only been running for five minutes, Mbappe had broken the Monaco goal. He completed Federico Valverde's assist which gave Madrid a 1-0 lead.
After celebrating the goal with his teammates, Mbappe then headed to the Monaco supporters' stand to apologize. The captain of the French national team did not forget that Monaco was the one who brought him as one of the top players in the world today.
Monaco actually tried to catch up. A good opportunity was obtained by Ansu Fati, a Barcelona player who was loaned to Monaco. However, he failed to finish the opportunity that should have been a goal.
On the other hand, Madrid managed to add a goal through a counterattack. Starting from Eduardo Camavinga's action who quickly gave the ball to Arda Guler.
The young player for the Turkish national team ran with the ball before passing it to Vinicius Jr. He then released a cross pass which was greeted by Mbappe and converted into a goal and changed the score to 2-0.
Monaco again put pressure to catch up with the goal deficit. The guest team's efforts almost bore fruit through Jordan Teze. However, Teze's kick still soared over the crossbar. Furthermore, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made a number of brilliant saves before closing the first half with 2-0 for Madrid.
In the second half, Madrid continued to play offensively and did not give the opponent a chance to develop. They also scored a quick goal again when Mastantuono broke into the Monaco goal in the 55th minute. Madrid's third goal came after Mastantuono completed Vinicius Jr's assist.
Vinicius Jr also played a role in the creation of the fourth goal in the 55th minute. His cross shot was actually anticipated by defender Thilo Kehrer. However, the ball actually slid into the net and was saved by goalkeeper Philipp Kohn, who changed the score to 4-0.
Furthermore, Vinicius Jr strengthened Madrid's advantage in the 63rd minute. The goal that completed Guler's assist made Madrid 5-0 ahead. Monaco was also powerless to catch up. However, Monaco finally narrowed the gap when Teze took advantage of Dani Ceballos' mistake.
The goal in the 72nd minute changed the score to 5-1. However, Madrid was unstoppable. Even Los Blancos added a goal when Bellingham broke the opponent's goal in the 80th minute. The score changed to 6-1 for Madrid and lasted until the end of the match.
The victory over Monaco brought Madrid up to second place with 15 points. The same as Bayern Munich but the German Bundesliga club lost by a goal difference so they dropped to second place.
Meanwhile, Monaco is still in the playoff zone. The French Ligue 1 club is ranked 20th with seven points.
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