Mbappe vs Ronaldo 

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1:28Alan Shearer:Coming up on today's show, goals from Rafinha and La Minha Mal give Barcelona a statement win at Villarreal as the Catalan side make it eight consecutive La Liga wins. Kylian Mbappé equals a Cristiano Ronaldo record as he scores again in Real Madrid's win against Sevilla. Conor Gallagher scores just his second league goal of the season as Atletico Madrid cruise to victory against Girona. And Real Betis hit four past Getafe as they end the year on a high. Stay tuned for all the action.

2:18Alan Shearer:Hello and welcome to The Rest is Football La Liga with Alex Alge and me, Gary Lineker. And we're approaching that time of the year where Spanish football takes a rest. I was always envious about that and actually missed it in the years that I spent at Barcelona. It was quite lovely just to have a bit of time off at Christmas. We go into that Christmas break with Barcelona sitting pretty four points clear at the top. Elsewhere, it's quite tight in the middle of the table, I think from 12th to 18th. There's just three points separating them. So there'll be a bit of nervousness going into the festive season for a lot of clubs around that relegation zone.

2:59Alan Shearer:Before we start about football, I think we might need to mention something called darts. Alex, were you there?

3:10I was there, Gary. I went last night.

3:14Alan Shearer:Tell me how was it? I've never been. I like the darts. I watch it on TV, but I've never had the courage to go. No, it's always a great night. It's a great night. I actually love playing dance. I've got a dartboard here. Are you any good? Regularly. I'm all right. I'm all right. Oh, yeah. It was a very, very good night. I did try and push this podcast back as late as possible. I did notice that. It's always a long night. I'm actually, I'm at Craven Cottage later. So am I. Oh, okay. See you there. I'll probably see you there. Are you in Brasserie Blanc? we're going in somewhere quite posh going with the Premier League actually so nice nice yeah looking forward to that I'll be working I'll be working I mean this is the second time in three weeks that I would have watched Forest and that's not great for a Leicester fan but perhaps so I'll probably be cheering on Fulham but no yeah cheer on Fulham for obvious reasons for obvious reasons it's such a lovely way to watch football at Craven Cottage you forget you're at a football stadium Yeah, it's got a bit of charm.

4:20Alan Shearer:On to the football then. Let's start with Barcelona, who produced, some would say, perhaps a statement win at Villarreal because it had been over two months since the yellow submarine had lost a game in La Liga. Not Champions League, obviously. It's very different in that competition. Before we go into the details of that one, let's see how it all panned out.

4:44Rafinha. Looking to have a little dart past Começana. who hangs a leg out, penalty given.

4:54Don't think there's much doubt in that one.

5:01Rafinha was the man to earn the penalty. And Rafinha is the man to score it to, to cap a brilliant calendar year for him.

5:19It's nicely worked on the edge of the area. Villarreal have got it square. Jules Gunde has turned the ball into his own net.

5:28Villarreal think they've got an equaliser, but the offside flag is about to deny them. Gunde.

5:40Ooh, Vega through the back of Luminium Al there. Renato Vega's in trouble. big trouble sent off and the hosts will have to play more than a half with ten and the big Brazilian clattered in there

6:02here's Marcus Rash that Koundé had set off instead he finds them out it's a bit untidy it's Robert Lewandowski it's a good save by the goalkeeper still not clear the danger not clear at all Laminia Malz finished things off you would think against 10 Barca are two in front

6:27will Barcelona end the year and they end Villarreal's winning run with three points on their travels

6:35Alan Shearer:well Alex Barcelona's soldiering on I mean getting very consistent at the moment and another really impressive performance, difficult place to go and play. And Villarreal, both these teams went into it, didn't they, as the most form sides in La Liga. But, I mean, Villarreal didn't help themselves with the red card, and they had one or two chances that they should probably have stuck away, as we always know you're going to get against Barcelona. But overall, I thought Barcelona were pretty impressive. Yep. Eight wins in a row for Barcelona now. they had to cope without Pedri and they certainly coped without him obviously such a key player for him Rafinha's been absolutely brilliant since he came back from injury four goals in three La Liga games Yamal there's no stopping Yamal right now was it 19 goal involvements in 19 games in Barcelona absolutely incredible this game by the way the one that was supposed to be played in Miami exactly yeah did you remember the uproar the uproar yeah well quite rightly so I mean you can't do that to football fans.

7:41Alan Shearer:I don't, I mean, I know they do NFL try because they want to grow their sport around the world, but football is already an enormous sport around the world. I just, it didn't make any sense. I'm glad that I'm glad that I didn't happen. Cause imagine you're a kind of person that wants to go to every game for your L fans and, you know, go to every home game. And then suddenly, suddenly it's a long way to my Miami, isn't it? I mean, much as it's been asked to go to Miami at this time of year I would think we could have done a live club for Miami but not in Spain Spain's you know if it's an English club you go well actually Miami in the winter maybe but that aside no makes sense that they play the game in Spain but is there only stopping Barcelona that is the question well I'm not sure I'm not sure either Real Madrid they won as well we'll come to that game shortly but in the overall picture Barcelona seemingly are looking better, even with, you know, both teams have won Madrid have won three on the bounds, two in La Liga.

8:46Alan Shearer:They're not convincingly. This is not convincingly, no. And I suppose, you know, that might come. That might come at some point. And we've seen, haven't we, and it was similar last season, there's pitches where there's the spells where one team is going really well, they get a little gap and then they have a bad patch and the other team wins a game and it's rotated a bit. It's happened earlier in this season, But I don't feel like that will happen with this Barcelona team, unless they get a number of injuries, unless Pedri's out for a long period of time. I think he's the absolute key. And they're not quite the same when he doesn't play.

9:18Alan Shearer:But they've got so much firepower. And I know Real Madrid have got firepower as well, but they don't seem to have that consistency in midfield at the moment that Barcelona have got. Yeah, and having Jean Garcia back is massive as well. Another clean sheet for them. Yeah, a couple of good saves as well. one-on-ones. Yeah, absolutely. The red card changed the game without a doubt. It did, it did. Ronaldo Vega, Chelsea, youngster. Yeah, it was a very, very rash lunged in and I can see why it was a red card. I don't think you have too many complaints on that one. It wasn't one of those that you have to, I had a bit of a rant in a regular pod that went out on Monday about Xabi Simon's one, which I thought was, it was just, he was just trying to put his foot down.

10:10Alan Shearer:It was an accident. This was rash. This was rash and quite possibly dangerous. So I think it was probably justified on this occasion. Yeah. Yeah, I do. I agree. But really strange season for Villarreal. They've sort of, well, they've been everyone in La Liga except the top three. And no one in the Champions League. And no one in the Champions League. Yeah. Bizarre. one point from six games in the Champions League knocked out of the Copa del Rey as well midweek by the Segunda leaders Racing it's bizarre really is bizarre but they're going to be happy with their their form in La Liga and well it looks like they'll finish in the top four for sure yeah well they're pretty well clear of the chasing pack Atletico Madrid have kind of jumped above them on this particular occasion but I mean the way Barcelona are at front and obviously he's rotating quite a lot at the moment.

11:05Alan Shearer:Rafinha's come in now and started the last two. I mean, the one that hit the crossbar as well, what an effort that was. I mean, he does really strike a ball very, very cleanly. He's an excellent footballer. Yeah. Yeah. Top, top player. I interviewed him before the Chelsea game when he was just coming back. He didn't start that game in the Champions League. I saw him speaking to Hansi Flick off camera and you can see just Hansi Flick adores him he's they obviously have a brilliant brilliant relationship but he's an unbelievable player so good so good did you do it in Portuguese does he speak English he must do I think all these players speak English they all do now don't they I mean people have a pop at footballers don't they oh the footballers are not very clever and you go like hang on a minute how many how many multilingual footballers are there so many yeah so many and they speak multiple languages the thing is i guess it they're worried that something could be misconstrued if they said yeah i know i totally thought you're always more comfortable speaking our own language yeah yeah it keeps me in a job anyway so well you're bloody impressive at that the portuguese one is the one that impresses me most actually alex because really well it's bloody difficult you speak spanish i'd say i speak spanish yeah and it's a bit rusty nowadays because i never get the chance to practice because everyone speaks bloody english which is annoying well that's the thing isn't it portuguese though which actually if you if you read a portuguese newspaper it's so similar to spanish yeah it really is you can read i can read a column on in in portuguese and and not a problem but listening to it and speaking it it's like an entirely different it's completely different the pronunciation yeah it's quite similar to russian Eastern European I would say yeah it is now yeah yeah you're very good at it thank you thank you very impressive impressive Barcelona are also impressive yeah and they've got you know they've got so many options up front haven't they really have they can he can afford to rest his players occasionally I mean he generally brings them on you know Rashford came on again I thought he looked really good Marcus has I think he's been incredibly consistent this season Rafinha's now back and fit Lewandowski's in and out he's obviously managing his games a little bit which you probably need to do he's in his late 30s now right old age yeah well it is in football terms it is I mean yeah it feels that way as well in real life as well for me after the darts I must say yes you went big you went big Real Madrid I would say right now obviously we're going to speak about that in a moment, are not playing as a team.

13:59But this Barcelona team really looks like a team whoever Hansi Flick plays. They're all on the same page. They follow his game plan week in, week out. Real Madrid, not so much.

14:14Alan Shearer:Okay, let's turn to Madrid and their game. And obviously it was played on the birthday, the 27th birthday of Kylian Mbappe. And of course, he not won in and he called a record of Cristiano Ronaldo's, which we'll talk about after we've seen the highlights. Real Madrid avoided embarrassment against slowly Talavera in the Copa del Rey in midweek. They end 2025 at home against Sevilla.

14:48Rodrigo's delivery It's Bellingham climbing And Jude Bellingham Heads Real Madrid in front He arrived on the scene Perfectly And the finish wasn't bad either Rudiger Rodrigo Well that's Marcao who has already been booked and is booked for a second time and sent off.

15:20He protests his case but he was late there.

15:30Rodrigo. And he's caught by Juan Luis Sanchez, penalty given. He is causing some problems, Rodrigo.

15:43It will be Kylian Mbappe to mark his birthday with a record-equalling 59th goal of the calendar year. Here's Bellingham. Gets away from Oso and is caught and tumbles. And Real Madrid are awarded a second penalty. Jude Bellingham the man to go down this time.

16:10it is going to be checked it is going to be overturned there will be no second penalty for Real it is Real Madrid's night it is Kylian Mbappe's night alongside Cristiano Ronaldo 59 Real goals in a calendar year

16:32Alan Shearer:well it wasn't free-flowing stuff yet again but it's a results business ultimately and at the moment I would say Xabi Alonso needs results and he has got three victories on the bounce in all competitions but we also know that clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona often results aren't enough they want to be all encompassing playing wonderful football but that's not really happening at the moment no no it's not it's not and it yes a two nil win fine three points but it was not convincing Xabi Alonso came on the screens at the end of the game as in his face was on the big screens and he was whistled they're not happy they're not happy they need to be playing a lot better than they are yes a win but not a win for Xabi Alonso at all although better than a loss definitely better than a defeat it will of course buy him time but the jury is out the jury is out um i suppose it really ultimately comes down to one bloke doesn't it there frentino perez i mean you know he's a president that it's not known necessarily for his patience but you know we can guess all we like but ultimately it's it's what he thinks and he will and he's never been afraid to make a big decision, that's for sure.

18:04Yeah, absolutely. It's his decision. They're saying in Madrid that he'll have until the Super Cup in January. Obviously, they've got a couple of weeks off now, but that's massive, massive for Xabi Alonso. So we'll see what happens in January. The one brightest spark is Rodrigo.

18:24Alan Shearer:He really is playing well since, I mean, which makes it even more baffling the way he was left out in the early days of Xabi Alonso. Not just in La Liga, but also, of course, in the Club World Cup. Yes, exactly. Exactly. He's been brilliant in recent weeks. And Thibaut Courtois has been brilliant, which is not necessarily a good thing when you're saying that the goalkeeper's coming to the rescue in every game, making some crucial saves, five saves in that match against Sevilla. so they have got a brilliant goalkeeper a brilliant forward in Kylian Mbappe I would add Bellium in there I think since his injuries come back he's been seriously impressive got another excellent goal a different kind of goal for Hedda I mean he can score all sorts of different goals and we know he covers the ground he's great work ethic and he's become a massively important player not just for Real Madrid but for their coach, I think, Xabi Alonso.

19:23He's a winner. Top players, exactly. There's no denying that some brilliant, brilliant players in that Real Madrid team, but it's the same old issue. They don't play as a team.

19:33Alan Shearer:How do you deal? I just wonder how you deal with that, though. Because the Real Madrid way is superstars, Galacticos, isn't it? That's what they're brought up on. I would say with Barcelona, they're more about being a team and being together. I'm talking generally here over the past couple of decades, but Madrid take that route. They go down the Galacticos route. So can they complain when they don't look like they're a team? So it makes it perhaps difficult for a coach. You wonder how they can ever plan to create a team if the person bringing players in only brings superstars in. Exactly. When I worked there, it was the BBC, they called it up front, Bale, Benzema, Cristiano.

20:19know yeah yeah um they're brilliant you know top like incredible players and and they've won three champions leagues in a row when i was when i was working there but this team has the same

20:31Alan Shearer:quality they had a midfield they had a midfield that did make them into a team and casemiro exactly uh and they they're missing that aren't they they are they really well we'll see what they do in january but they really are missing that yeah and january nowadays they they bring in players on on freeze don't they that's been there so it'll be interesting to see what they what they plan and plot bring Luka Modric back Luka he's still playing brilliantly he's still playing well he is remarkable I mean he really is but on the plus side it was a victory and also on the plus side Kylian Mbappe who's equaled that Cristiano Ronaldo record with 59 goals in a calendar year not bad is it Ronaldo did it 12 years ago in 2013.

21:21What was your best tally in a calendar year?

21:24Alan Shearer:I have no idea. No one took into account calendar years then, but I would imagine it would have been the season of 19, probably 85, 86. Oh, the calendar year, probably 86. And how many? I don't know. I'm never a tallying it up, but I scored a lot of goals. for yeah but then it wouldn't work because it was two clubs and it has to be for one club in a calendar year I think it does I don't know so maybe it would have been 85 I don't know it wouldn't have got close to them but I scored in the season I scored Everton I scored 40 before I went to Barcelona I scored obviously quite a few in England friendlies and then at Barcelona I scored some so I don't know I mean yeah nothing nothing like 59 that's for sure and you've got to realise in the modern age of football with all the rule changes and the playing surfaces and the way teams play defensively and build out from the back and take so many liberties the really great goal scorers the top goal scorers now score a goal a game whereas in my day it was just a bit better than one game in two for anybody so Mbappe and Ronaldo interesting comparison because actually if you look at the overall things at the age of 27.

22:49Alan Shearer:Ronaldo had scored 272 goals and provided 106 assists, which is 378 in total, which in 531 games, which is pretty impressive. But listen to this, Mbappe, 410 goals and 176 assists. That's 586 goal contributions in 544 matches. So similar amount of games, but 200 more goals and contributions. Yes. It's remarkable. I don't think anyone yet says publicly Mbappe is better than Cristiano Ronaldo. No, no. I wonder when they will start saying it. Surely soon, because that's crazy. I think there are very fair comparisons. It's also important to remember that a lot of Ronaldo's early career was played very out wide in Manchester United and he learned his way.