Kylian Mbappe endured a Clasico debut nightmare after Real Madrid suffered a painful 4-0 defeat against arch rivals Barcelona at the Bernabeu.
The France superstar has scored eight goals for his new club since he completed his dream move from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer, but has failed to fully convince.
Mbappe had a golden chance to endear himself to his new supporters on Saturday evening and play a decisive role in bringing Liga leaders Barcelona back down to earth.
Instead, the 25-year-old delivered a disasterclass in timing his runs and was caught offside on a farcical number of occasions.
The France international skipper saw two goals ruled out for offside and ran beyond the last defender on six occasions in the first half alone, more than any other player in a single game in Europe’s top five leagues this season.
On the occasions that Mbappe was able to avoid Barcelona’s trap, his finishing let him down and his misery was compounded by opposite number Robert Lewandowski putting on a second half display of ruthless efficiency.
The veteran Pole put the visitors ahead nine minutes after the break after he, ironically, beat Real’s offside trap, capitalising on Ferland Mendy’s poor positioning before beating Andriy Lunin with a low shot from the edge of the penalty area.
Lewandowski doubled the lead two minutes later with a sensational header after he had again escaped the attention of Real’s defence.
The former Bayern Munich man missed the opportunity to complete his hat-trick when he hit the woodwork after it appeared easier to score, but a comprehensive victory was completed with two goals in the closing stages from Lamine Yamal and Raphinha.
While the night belonged to Flick and his rampant Barcelona side, who also put four past Bayern Munich in midweek, Real fans turned their ire squarely on Mbappe.
One disbelieving fan said ‘Mbappe the offside merchant’, while another added ‘Mbappe is a fraud, pace and power merchant that has been exposed as he lacks offside awareness’.
‘Mbappe is just useless,’ said another fan who could not believe what he was witnessing. ‘Scores offsides, misses onsides. Who are you??’