Real Madrid

Real Madrid, Mbappé, Vinicius Jr and Bellingham: Champions League success and the role of the hairstyle taper fade

Real Madrid's three stars all scored in the 6-1 win over Monaco, with a distinctive look that is becoming established among the players of the world's most internationally titled club. The three bigs are clients of Italian hairstylist Luigi Paesano

by Enrico Bronzo

22 January 2026

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Real Madrid's super footballers (and among the best in the world) Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham, all have taper fade hairstyles with curly hair defined at the top, characterised by very short sides that gradually fade.

The three stars all scored in the 6-1 thrashing of Monaco in the Champions League on 20 January 2026, with Mbappé netting a brace. Merit in the taper made haircut? Joking, of course, but their haircuts certainly stand out. In a positive way.

The three. for the first time, on 10 December 2024, had all scored in the same Champions League match, in the 3-2 win in Bergamo against Atalanta.

Their hair stylist includes Luigi Paesano from Secondigliano (Naples).

Luigi Paesano travels around Europe to cut the hair of football champions. In Madrid, he cut the hair of all three stars, they confirm from the Bottega Paesano in Catania.

Among his clients is Inter and Argentine national team bomber Lautaro Martinez.

Paesano took up the trade at the age of 12: 'After I had my first beard, I realised I liked it,' he told Forbes Italia in 2023.

Antonio Candreva (Salernitana, Lazio and Inter Milan) was the first football customer. Other VIP clients included Paulo Dybala (Roma) and Gigio Donnarumma (Manchester City). To his collection he later added Lionel Messi (eight Ballon d'Or), the footballer he most wanted to meet.

His shop in Milan is at Via della Moscova 7 while two other shops are in Naples at Via Posillipo and Capodichino.

Among the hair stylists who are most popular among the big players are Thai Nguyen (London-Vancouver 98.1M likes. 2.2M followers on TikTok); VicBlends (USA 294.4M likes 15.8M followers on TikTok) and Sabastiao Camavinga (shop in Madrid, brother of Eduardo, another Real Madrid player).