Highly anticipated in the absence of the Brazilian Vinicius Junior, Real Madrid star striker Kylian Mbappé experienced another nightmarish evening in Liverpool (2-0) with a missed penalty and a worrying performance, both on a sporting and mental level.
However, there was a (small) clearing last Sunday in the sky over Leganés, a suburb of Madrid, where the French striker found the net again, served on a plate by Vinicius.
But it was ultimately in a thick fog that he left the legendary pitch of Anfield, in Liverpool, at the end of a failed match, unable to make the difference and bring his team back into the game while he had the opportunity on a poorly taken penalty and repelled by Kelleher (61st).
“Only those who take responsibility can fail“, tried to explain Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti, without a solution to revive his team, reigning European champion but in great danger in C1 after this third defeat in five days.
“It was a very important moment in the match, but these things happen. He’s a wonderful player, but the pressure around him because of his talent is enormous. The penalty is not the reason for our defeat. Kylian can hold his head high. I am convinced that he will produce moments of history for this club“, also launched his teammate Jude Bellingham.
However, it is the photo of his bad fall, his head against the lawn, after a shoulder hit from the Dutch colossus Virgil Van Dijk, which is used everywhere on social networks and in the press to illustrate his “shipwreck“, with only one shot on target, in the 88th minute, 15 balls lost, and only six duels out of thirteen won.
“Unrecognizable“
Imprecise and muzzled by the young Conor Bradley, 21, in his left lane, Mbappé is logically targeted by the Spanish press, mercilessly after this new missed meeting:
“It is obvious that Kylian Mbappé today is not even a shadow of the player he has been in recent years. Things don’t go the way he wants and the crisis of confidence he suffers from devours him until he becomes an unrecognizable footballer.“, estimates the daily Marca, deploring the fact that the French striker did not understand “the great opportunity” to shine on the European scene in the absence of Vinicius.
“He came for these kinds of evenings. […] And he didn’t show up. He was not a leader, he did not shine. He was not Vinicius, and continues not to be Mbappé“, decides its competitor AS, which awarded it the extremely rare score of 1/10.
Assailed by questions about his number 9, Carlo Ancelotti once again came to his defense.
“When you are a striker you want to score and have confidence. I think that for Mbappé, it’s a difficult moment. We will support him and give him love“, declared the Italian technician, assuring that there was “only one remedy“to the evil that was gnawing at the ex-Paris Saint-Germain star:”patience“.
A speech that is less and less audible in the Spanish capital, where the name of the Argentinian Santiago Solari, current director of Madrid football, present in the delegation to Leganés alongside its president Florentino Pérez, is starting to circulate to replace Ancelotti, in less temporarily.
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