Kylian Mbappé, Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham, how the most exciting attack in Europe became very boring to watch | Goal.com English

With Lionel Messi, sometimes the simplest moves were the result of many ideas. It’s February 2016 and FC Barcelona are leading 3-1 against Celta Vigo. Messi, at the time, was at 299 career goals in La Liga and, with a penalty to take, it looked like he was ready to reach the 300 mark. Instead, he sent it to the right, where Luis Suarez raced in and scored, making it 4-1 as he scored his own hat-trick.

The world of football reacted in a surprising way to such a small movement. A large number of supporters – who gathered mostly in the Madrid metropolitan area – said the move was disrespectful. Most of the internet users admitted that it was a good laugh. Eight years later, who cares? Barca won 6-1 and Messi scored his 300th goal, while Celta were crushed.

This is how Barca had fun led by Messi, Suarez and Neymar. The goals came in spades, and they were all beautifully constructed – three players, moving in a co-ordinated manner, so happy to provide scoring to support. They all knew that, one way or another, they would find the web, as long as this fluid system continued to work.

The same can be said about three other great offensive players of the new era. Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané; Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema at Real Madrid. Even Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Ronaldo at Manchester United.

The current generation of Real Madrid, however, does not have the same amazing force. With Kylian Mbappé, Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Jr, Merengue have three of the most talented offensive players in the world. But these three have not yet managed to integrate. Today, it is instead to include a group of individuals who do not have alchemy and sacrifice towards others, who are able to turn this very good team into a good team.