Kylian Mbappé’s recent evenings are developing into a worrying pattern, with each evening worse than the last. Last night Real Madrid suffered another setback in the Champions League. After defeats against LOSC and AC Milan, the reigning European champions lost against Liverpool (2-0) in a game in which nothing went according to plan. Without Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo, the French striker was alone in attack, but despite the presence of Brahim Diaz and Arda Güler, he failed to make an impression. The Moroccan and the Turk also had disappointing evenings.
His first half was a nightmare. Closely marked by the Van Dijk-Konaté duo, the French captain found it difficult to exploit his typical speed advantages. Even dropping back into position, he was unable to make an impact on the game, if it ever existed. A lost challenge that saw him fall backwards against Van Dijk and an impressive save from Conor Bradley at his feet underlined the difficulties the striker faced. He lost nine balls in the first 45 minutes and only managed to complete one dribble attempt out of two. The second half was even more disastrous.
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Real Madrid were under pressure and finally saw Mac Allister open the scoring (52nd minute). But hope quickly returned when a penalty was awarded for a foul by Robertson on Lucas Vazquez. Unfortunately, nothing went as planned for the former Parisian at Anfield last night. Caoimhín Kelleher realized his intention perfectly and dived to the left to block Mbappé’s penalty attempt (61st minute). The Irish goalkeeper frustrated the star and shortly afterwards the Reds extended their lead with a second goal from Gakpo in the final quarter of an hour of the game (76th minute). “It’s not going well,” admitted Ceballos. “He’s not scoring the goals he wants to. It’s hard to settle in at a club like Madrid, but I’m sure he’ll manage.”
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This missed penalty was the main chance for Casa Blanca and marked only the Frenchman’s second shot on goal as he only took two shots in total. He finished the game with 15 balls lost, and his defensive efforts also left a lot to be desired. In terms of offensive play, it was another disappointing performance. “We see that he is training well and has a lot of self-confidence,” said Modric after the final whistle. “Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Today it didn’t work, especially with the penalty. But we have faith and I’m sure Kylian will do what we expect of him.”
However, Real Madrid have been waiting for a while and this game won’t help their cause, especially since he was obviously key to their attack last night. “Of course he’s disappointed; he missed a penalty. That’s football, it happens. Only those who take responsibility for taking a shot can fail. He has to pick himself up again and try to score in the next game,” reassured Carlo Ancelotti in an interview with Canal+. There is indeed urgency for both the Merengues and their number 9. As of now, the Madrid club are 24th in the Champions League table, and doubts are looming over Kylian Mbappé’s head.
