Mbappe more than just goals for Madrid, insists Alonso
Kylian Mbappe was the star as Real Madrid defeated Olympiacos in a Champions League thriller and Xabi Alonso hailed his exceptional forward.
Xabi Alonso insisted Kylian Mbappe is important for far more than just his goals after his star turn in Real Madrid's pulsating 4-3 Champions League defeat of Olympiacos.
Mbappe scored all four of Los Blancos' goals in Athens, which proved crucial as Chiquinho, Mehdi Taremi and Ayoub El Kaabi netted for the hosts in a seven-goal thriller.
It marks the fourth time Mbappe has netted four or more goals in a match in his career, previously doing so twice for Paris Saint-Germain and once for France.
He has now scored more hat-tricks away from home than any other player in European Cup/Champions League history (four), while he became the first Madrid player to score four goals in a major European away match.
His haul took him to 22 goals for the campaign, but head coach Alonso says his star forward contributes far more to the overall cause.
"Mbappe is very important, that goes without saying," he said.
"His goals are fundamental, but that's not all. His personality is among so many intangible things. Like teamwork, unity. The goals, it's a natural talent he possesses."
Madrid went behind but twice had a two-goal lead that Olympiacos fought back from to set up a tense finale.
Alonso, though, insists he was able to stay calm.
He said: "I was taking it much more calmly than you might expect. I'm not a rookie, and it's a long road. And it's not all sunshine and roses.
"You have to be critical and hold yourself to high standards, but we know there's always the next game. And that we have to look ahead."
Madrid had failed to win any of their previous three games in all competitions, losing to Liverpool in Europe and drawing with Rayo Vallecano and Elche in LaLiga.
Asked if this dramatic win could be a turning point, Alonso said: "We'll see. Time will tell. We've had good feelings and shared some things.
"We came in a difficult situation with some injuries, but we won and we're taking that away from it. This is football and now we have to think about the next thing.
"The schedule we're playing, I don't know, maybe five consecutive away games, that doesn't happen very often. But we'll go for it."
