Meana's assessment was direct and without qualification.
"Vinicius and Mbappé don't get along, they don't see eye to eye, and the team with the Frenchman on the pitch plays worse. He makes no effort to adapt. The teammates know it. There are no solutions."
Mbappé did not travel to Barcelona for the Clásico due to a hamstring strain, watching from home while posting "Hala Madrid" on Instagram as his side fell 2-0 behind. The post drew a hostile reaction in Spain, with commentators questioning the tone of someone absent from the biggest match of the season.
The relationship between the club's two most expensive players has been under scrutiny throughout the campaign. Vinícius, whose contract expires in June 2027, has been pushing for wage parity with Mbappé — a demand Real Madrid have been unwilling to meet. That standoff has added a financial undercurrent to a competitive tension that began when Mbappé's arrival in the summer of 2025 forced Vinícius to shift his position and function.
The statistical picture muddies the narrative somewhat. Mbappé has scored 41 goals in 41 appearances this season — by far the team's leading scorer. Vinícius has 21 goals across all competitions. But the broader question, as Meana articulated and as internal sources have confirmed to several Spanish outlets, is whether the sum of the two is less than the sum of its parts.
Florentino Pérez intends to keep both players. Neither will be sold this summer according to sources close to the club. Whether the new head coach — Mourinho or Deschamps — can make that combination function is the central coaching challenge at the Bernabéu.