France beat Argentina in Kazan thriller

Despite Barcelona's rapid revival under Hansi Flick, Real Madrid were confident heading into Saturday's La Liga Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu.

They had every reason to be.

The reigning Spanish and European champions had gone 42 matches unbeaten in the league, one short of the all-time record held by their arch-rivals.

They flexed their muscles in midweek, thrashing Borussia Dortmund 5-2 in the Champions League with a sensational second-half display in which Vinicius Junior -- who is tipped to win the Ballon d'Or on Monday -- scored a hat-trick.

And this summer Madrid finally signed the player they craved for years, French superstar Kylian Mbappe, a devastating attacking threat seemingly destined to elevate them to an even higher plane.

That was president Florentino Perez's dream. Mbappe's too.

The hotly anticipated Clasico, Mbappe's first, was the perfect stage for him and Madrid to put Barcelona in their place.

Flick's tactical approach, featuring an extremely high defensive line, also seemed ripe for Mbappe and Vinicius to pillage with their pace.

However Los Blancos were caught out time and time again by Barcelona's supremely well-drilled offside trap and were ultimately dismantled in the same way they had anticipated beating their opponent.

Robert Lewandowski's brace early in the second half stunned the Bernabeu and Lamine Yamal and Raphinha's strikes on the counter-attack helped Barcelona to a sensational 4-0 triumph to move six points clear at the top of La Liga.

The victory sent shockwaves through the capital and caused Madrid fans and media to launch an inquisition of their team.

Mbappe, who had two goals disallowed for offside, cut an extremely frustrated figure and is yet to settle at the club.

The forward has six league goals this season in contrast to Lewandowski's 14.

"The star's first Clasico was a cataclysm -- a failure, stumbling eight times in Flick's offside trap. Shrunken and without venom, he's a worry," wrote Madrid newspaper AS.

"Kylian Mbappe will not keep fond memories of his first Clasico with Real Madrid, instead he will try to turn the page as quickly as possible," added Marca.

"The goal was getting smaller and smaller for Kylian, and he could not find a way of beating (Barca goalkeeper) Inaki Pena."

Despite Ancelotti insisting Mbappe was "calm" ahead of the game, recent events may have taken a toll.

He is wrangling with former club Paris Saint-Germain over millions in back pay and was criticised in his homeland after not playing for France in recent Nations League fixtures.

Swedish media reported he is being investigated over an alleged rape in Stockholm following a trip there during the international break. Mbappe has dismissed the reports as "fake news".

- 'Don't have to bin everything' -

Ancelotti insisted his team had not been sent back to square one.

"I liked the first half, we have to follow that line," said the coach.

"We don't have to throw everything in the bin, we just have to forget the last 30 minutes -- we can't give up, we just have to learn.

"We came out of the last defeat well and we have to do the same, I am certain we will do better."

Madrid last lost in La Liga over a year ago, against Atletico Madrid, and Ancelotti tinkered his set-up afterwards, giving Jude Bellingham a hybrid role.

The England international had started the season up front and scored 10 goals in his first 10 games, but later helped shield the team defensively on the left.

This season Ancelotti has moved Bellingham out of attack to accomodate Mbappe, but has not yet found a permanent home for the midfielder.

Without the creativity and wisdom of Toni Kroos, who retired this summer, Madrid have been wildly inconsistent.

Fede Valverde has inherited Kroos's number eight shirt but despite taking a central role this season is struggling to set the tempo of matches.

Mbappe might be more comfortable playing off the left flank, where he thrived at PSG, but that is also Vinicius's favourite position.

Ancelotti has plenty to chew over in the weeks ahead while trying to ensure Barcelona do not race out of sight.

Kylian Mbappe has signed a five-year deal to move to Real Madrid from Paris Saint-Germain, the Spanish club announced on Monday.

"Real Madrid have reached an agreement for the player to be at Real Madrid for the next five seasons," the club said in a statement.

Mbappe, 25, verbally agreed to move to Real in February and then announced in May he would leave PSG at the end of the season.

Real, fresh from winning their 15th Champions League on Saturday, moved to confirm the deal on Monday before Mbappe is involved in pre-Euro 2024 friendlies for France.

A World Cup winner as a teenager in 2018, Mbappe scored a club record 256 goals for PSG since he joined the Qatar-owned club from Monaco on an initial loan in 2017.

He eventually moved to PSG in a 180-million-euro ($195 million) deal -- all at the age of 18.

Mbappe helped PSG to six Ligue 1 titles and steered them to the 2020 Champions League final, but they lost to Bayern Munich.

He scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final against Argentina in Qatar in 2022 but still finished on the losing side as Lionel Messi's Argentina won on penalties.

PSG lavished hugs sums to team up Mbappe, Brazil star Neymar and Messi at PSG, hoping to finally unlock the Champions League puzzle. But the French club came up short.

As Mbappe's fame has grown, so has his importance to both the French national team and France the country.

President Emmanuel Macron intervened to persuade him to stay at PSG in June 2022 when a move to Real seemed almost cut and dried.

Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said on Tuesday that he wants Kylian Mbappe to stay in the French capital, claiming PSG is "the best club for him".

Mbappe's contract with the Ligue 1 champions runs out at the end of June and he is free to sign an agreement to join a new club for next season.

"I'm not going to hide that I want Kylian to stay," Al-Khelaifi told broadcaster RMC.

"The best player in the world is Kylian and the best club for him is Paris."

PSG have yet to win a maiden Champions League title despite spending billions of euros on transfer fees since the arrival of their Qatari owners in 2011.

Mbappe has been heavily linked with a possible move to 14-time European champions Real Madrid.

"He has the best training centre in the world, the best coach in the world (Luis Enrique)," said Al-Khelaifi.

"Every year he's sure of playing in the Champions League, we're in the last 16 at least, quarter-finals, even semi-finals or final, we're there with the big clubs."

A source involved in Mbappe's contract negotiations told AFP last week that the France forward had waived bonuses totalling "several tens of millions" of euros in a bid to ease a move away from PSG.

Mbappe signed a contract extension in 2022 which secured him a salary of 72 million euros ($78.7 million) per year, a signing bonus of 150 million euros and a loyalty bonus which rose from 70 million euros in year one to 90 million in year three, according to Le Parisien.

But Al-Khelaifi insisted whether Mbappe stays or not "is not a question of money".

"We have a lot of very important matches, I ask for you to leave Kylian alone, leave him alone."

Mbappe has scored 24 goals in all competitions for Ligue 1 leaders PSG this season.

President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday to congratulate the winning team, President Vladimir Putin, and Russia after the World Cup final, which he called "one of the best ever!"

"Congratulations to France, who played extraordinary soccer, on winning the 2018 World Cup. Additionally, congratulations to President Putin and Russia for putting on a truly great World Cup Tournament one of the best ever!," he wrote on his Twitter account on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, the national team of France defeated Croatia 4-2 in the 2018 FIFA World Cup final match in Moscow to snatch its second World Cup Trophy.