Carlo Ancelotti admits Kylian Mbappé underperforming for Real Madrid

Real Madrid lost ground on Barcelona at the top of LaLiga on Wednesday night as a result of their 2-1 defeat to Athletic Club. Kylian Mbappé missed a penalty for the second time in three games following his spot-kick failure against Liverpool in the Champions League last week.

In his post-match press conference after the loss in Bilbao, coach Carlo Ancelotti admitted Mbappé, who also missed a big opportunity earlier in the second half, wasn’t at his best but offered his backing to the Frenchman and Fede Valverde, who was at fault for Athletic’s winning goal.

Athletic 2-1 Real Madrid: Carlo Ancelotti’s post-match press conference

How is Mbappé doing?: “I haven’t spoken to him. It was a tough, evenly matched game, fought hard by 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’s sad and disappointed, but we have to move on.”

Mbappé has played 20 games, scored 10 goals, and missed two penalties. He doesn’t seem like even 1% of the Mbappé we saw at PSG…: “He’s much more than 1%. He’s not at his best, but we need to give him time to adapt. He’s scored 10 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 it. Fede is a great player. Mistakes happen in soccer, just like in life. We need to focus on the next game.”

Do you think the loss was fair? Can you change the penalty taker?: “The game was evenly matched. Athletic is a very dangerous team; we competed 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 them winning. 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 in attack and had opportunities. We’re still in the fight. We could have gotten a better result, but we’re here and thinking about Saturday’s game in Girona. Vinicius has taken many penalties and done well. Our penalty takers are Mbappé, Bellingham, and Vinicius.”

Did the reaction come too late?: “I don’t think so. Athletic took the lead, and then we played with a different intensity. It wasn’t too late because we equalized in the 78th minute and thought we could control the game.”

Mbappé “didn’t take penalty well”

Does it bother you when people question whether Mbappé should take penalties?: “It doesn’t bother me; it’s part of soccer. I think both [Bellingham and Mbappé] talked, and he took the responsibility but didn’t take it well. This can happen in soccer.”

What do you think about the disallowed goal and the referee ignoring VAR?: “I didn’t see the play. It seemed like they were looking at offside and then the penalty. He called to review the situation and decided not to give the penalty.”

What’s stranger: the three league losses this season or losing only one game last year?: “It’s stranger to have five losses [in all competitions] in a short time. We agree that we need to improve. We’ve improved some aspects in recent games, but we’re still not as solid as we were last year. The last two losses came in very tough stadiums. Now, little by little, we’ll recover players and improve our level.”

Original article written by Javier R. Beltran, translated with the assistance of AI and edited by Roddy Cons.

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