After his penalty miss against Liverpool, Mbappe once again failed to score from the spot in the defeat to Athletic Club.
Real Madrid lost ground to Barcelona at the top of LaLiga on Wednesday evening with the 2-1 defeat against Athletic Club. Kylian Mbappe missed a penalty for the second time in three games after his failed penalty against Liverpool in the Champions League last week.
At his post-match press conference following the defeat in Bilbao, coach Carlo Ancelotti admitted that Mbappé, who also missed a big chance earlier in the second half, was not at his best, but offered his support to the Frenchman and Fede Valverde, who was guilty to Athletic's winning goal.
Athletic 2-1 Real Madrid: Carlo Ancelotti's post-match press conference
How is Mbappé?: “I haven't spoken to him. It was a tough, even match, with hard fighting from both sides. When we equalized we thought we could take control, but small details cost us tonight. We missed the penalty… I don't judge a player's performance based on a penalty, which sometimes goes in and sometimes doesn't. Obviously he is sad and disappointed, but we have to move on.”
Mbappé has played twenty games, scored ten goals and missed two penalties. He looks less than 1% of the Mbappé we saw at PSG…: “He is much more than 1%. He is not at his best, but we have to give him time to adapt. He has scored ten goals and is working hard to improve.”
And Fede Valverde?: “The fans are extraordinary. Fede, like Kylian, is sad and disappointed. He made a mistake, but we shouldn't dwell on that. Fede is a great player. Mistakes happen in football, just like in life. We have to concentrate on the next match.”
Do you think the loss is justified? Can you change the penalty taker?: “The game was even. Athletic is a very dangerous team; we fought and fought hard. I think a draw would have been fair based on the performance of both teams, but I have nothing to say about the win. I think we defended well in the first half, but we could have done better with the ball. In the second half we were better offensively and had chances. We are still in the fight. We could have achieved a better result, but we are here and thinking about Saturday's match in Girona. Vinicius has taken a lot of penalties and done well. Our penalty takers are Mbappé, Bellingham and Vinicius.”
Was the response too late?: “I don't think so. Athletic took the lead and then we played with a different intensity. It wasn't too late as we equalized in the 78th minute and thought we had the game under control.”
Mbappé “didn't take penalty well”
Do you find it annoying when people wonder whether Mbappé should take penalties?: “It doesn't bother me; it's part of football. I think both [Bellingham and Mbappé] talked, and he took responsibility, but he didn't take it well. That can happen in football.”
What do you think of the disallowed goal and the referee ignoring the VAR?: “I didn't see the game. It looked like they were looking at offside and then at the penalty. He called to assess the situation and decided not to impose the penalty.”
What is stranger: the three league defeats this season or losing only one match last year?: “It is stranger to have five defeats [in all competitions] in a short time. We agree that we need to improve. We have improved some aspects in recent games, but we are still not as solid as last year. The last two defeats came in very heavy stadiums. Now little by little we will recover players and improve our level.”
Original article written by Javier R. Beltran, translated with the help of AI and edited by Roddy Cons.
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