The improvement over the weekend was too short-lived. Named man of the match and scorer of a very good goal against Getafe on Sunday, Kylian Mbappé was not at all able to ride his current lack of confidence against Atletico Bilbao this Wednesday evening. Worse, the French striker, starting in attack on the left side alongside Rodrygo, fell back into his mistakes by missing a penalty again, like against Liverpool last week.
Not helped by the cascade of injuries among his partners, and an experimental team cobbled together by Carlo Ancelotti finally beaten at San Mamès (2-1), Mbappé failed to impact the match, even if he scored a goal, finally refused for offside, on his only interesting ball in the first half. Before collapsing in the second from a penalty, an exercise that he nevertheless likes.
The same penalty as against Liverpool
But it’s an understatement to say that confidence is fleeing him at the moment. “Kylian is going through an extremely difficult period which will unfortunately last. He needs psychological and physical help…”, we were told in one of his circles last week. This meeting was further proof of this.
Designated to take the potentially equalizing penalty in the 68th minute, the French striker saw his attempt stopped by goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala. A failure very similar to that of Liverpool (0-2): shot too soft, poorly placed on the right side, and his head still as disappointed in front of his failure…. The consolations of Jude Bellingham who immediately came to his support with a little hug won’t help anything.
His involvement in the equalizer straight away with a shot from distance pushed back into the feet of the same Bellingham put a smile on his face for just two minutes. By the time Guruzeta took advantage of an error by the Madrid defense to put the Basques back in front. With this defeat, Mbappé and Real find themselves four points behind FC Barcelona, the wide leader with a game in hand.
As usual, his coach Carlo Ancelotti did everything to defend him after the match at a press conference. “From the penalty spot, sometimes you score, sometimes you don’t. He’s sad that he missed out. But it can happen. I’m not going to judge his match on that. »
For the former Parisian, it is yet another setback in his new adventure with Real, he who has only scored two goals in the last eight games, and who is struggling to forget his injury absence. by Vinicius. Discreet on the ground and in the media, Mbappé will give an interview on the Canal+ show “Clique” on Sunday, his first public speech since September 5.
