Luis Figo doesn't dress it up. Real Madrid's season has been bad, Mbappé has poisoned the dressing room dynamic, and Xabi Alonso never stood a chance. The Ballon d'Or winner turned Laureus Academy member sat down with MARCA and delivered the kind of verdict most ex-players spend interviews carefully avoiding.
"Mbappé's arrival has filled the Real Madrid dressing room with selfishness," Figo said. That's a damning line about a player Madrid spent years and enormous political capital pursuing. Whatever the Frenchman's individual numbers look like, if the dressing room has fractured around him, that's a structural problem — and it shows in the results.
Xabi Alonso didn't get a fair shot
On the coaching change — from Alonso to Arbeloa mid-season — Figo was blunt: "I don't think he has had time. We haven't even had time to make an analysis of the months he has been here. It's very complicated."
That's not a defence of Alonso's tactics. It's a recognition that you cannot evaluate a coaching tenure that was cut short before it had any shape. Whoever made that call at Bernabéu did so without much patience — or much evidence.
"The reality is that it is a bad season," Figo added. "For Madrid, if you don't win, it's always a negative season. When titles are missing, it's because things weren't working." Hard to argue. A club built on winning doesn't get to reframe failure as a rebuild.
PSG and Bayern his picks for Champions League glory
With the semi-finals set, Figo named his favourites without hesitation: PSG and Bayern Munich. "They are two very strong teams. I like their way of playing football, but anything can happen."
From a betting perspective, both clubs have shown the consistency in knockout football that justifies short prices. PSG in particular have looked a different animal this European campaign — more structured, less dependent on individual brilliance. Bayern's engine never really stops.
Figo also weighed in on the 2026 World Cup picture, placing Portugal in an interesting bracket — not historical heavyweights, but genuinely dangerous on current quality. He listed France, Spain, Brazil, and England as the frontrunners, with Argentina notably downgraded from its usual top-tier status in his estimation.
And on Lamine Yamal, he kept it simple: "It's incredible. He's an incredible talent." At 17, Yamal is already altering how defenders approach Barcelona's left side. The floor for his career is already higher than most players ever reach.
