Again, Ancelotti backs Mbappé after penalty miss against Athletic Club
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti played down criticism of forward Kylian Mbappé after he missed a second penalty in a week after a La Liga defeat to Athletic Club on Wednesday saying, “He’s much more than 1% [of his best level]. He’s not at his best level, but you have to give him time to adapt. He’s scored 10 goals and he’s working to do better.”
Ancelotti continued on Mbappé, “I haven’t spoken to him. It was a complicated match, evenly matched, fought, and competed. When we equalized, we could have thought we were in control, and small details penalized us tonight. We missed the penalty... I don’t have to evaluate a player’s game because of a penalty that sometimes is scored and sometimes is missed. He’s sad and disappointed, but we have to keep going.”
Ancelotti also said Fede Valverde is equally unhappy,
“The public is extraordinary. Fede, like Kylian, is sad and disappointed. He made a mistake, but we must not touch him. Fede is a great player. Mistakes are made in football, like everyone else. We have to look ahead to the next game.”
The coach agreed the match was even, “The match was even. Athletic are a very dangerous team, we competed and fought. I think the match was a draw. For what both teams did, for me it was a draw, but nothing to say about the fact that they won. I think we did well defensively in the first half, we could have done better with the ball. In the second half, we were better in attack, we had chances. And nothing. We are still in the fight. We could have got a lesser result, but we are there and we have to think about to think about Saturday’s match in Girona. Vinicius has usually taken a lot of penalties and all of them well. There are three penalty takers: Mbappé, Bellingham and Vinicius.”
Ancelotti also reacted to the disallowed goal and ignored VAR.
“I don’t think so. Athletic took the lead and then we played with a different intensity. It wasn’t late because we tied the game in 78’ and we could think that the game could be controlled.
“It doesn’t bother me, it’s part of football. I think the two of them [Bellingham and Mbappé] have spoken and he has taken the responsibility and not taken it well. This is in football.
“I didn’t see the play. It seemed that they looked at the offside and then the penalty. He called it to see the situation and decided not to give the penalty.
“It’s strange to have five defeats in a short time. We agree that we need to improve there. In the last few games, we have improved some aspects, but we are still not as solid as we were last year. The last two defeats have come on very difficult fields. Now little by little we are going to recover players and improve our level.”
Mbappe’s start to life as a Real Madrid has been underwhelming, to say the least. In the last couple of weeks, it has been especially tough for him after a couple of high-profile moments.
