1 day Ago By [email protected] (Samuel Meade)
Carlo Ancelotti insists Kylian Mbappe needs "support and love" as he looks to overcome his Real Madrid struggles - which continued in the loss at Liverpool . Real Madrid's Champions League hopes are on a knife edge after a third loss in five games. The champions thought the capture of Mbappe would make them an even more formidable force, but instead Los Blancos appear to have gone backwards following his signing.
The Frenchman, who joined on a free from PSG , stepped up when Real needed a big moment at Anfield, but failed to deliver as a he missed a penalty with the game finely poised at 1-0. Liverpool went on to add a second a claim the three points. Mbappe has scored just once in Europe this term and frustration is mounting in the Bernabeu, where the fans are known to have very little patience, but Ancelotti wants the fanbase to stick by their latest Galactico.
He said: “We’ve got to give him our support and love and he will soon be fine. It could be lack of confidence maybe. Sometimes when moments in the game and things are not working out, the idea is to keep things simple.
Don’t complicate things. He’s going through that moment now. You get through them.
Don’t blame him for missing a penalty. People miss penalties. We can’t put too much grief on him for that.
” Mbappe has scored nine times across all competitions in 18 games, but more was expected of the World Cup winner. One of the issues for the ex-PSG man is the battle he seems to be having with Vinicius Jnr, who was the team's talisman prior to his arrival. Both men operate best from the left of the attack, meaning one man always finds himself in a less favourable position.
Vinicius was injured for the trip to Liverpool, meaning Mbappe got his ideal spot, but it didn't lead to an upturn in performance as team-mate Luka Modric was left to rue his missed opportunity. The Croatian said: "We had the penalty that could have changed the game and we didn’t take advantage of it and with the score at 2-0 we were almost lost." The 39-year-old added: "We see him [Mbappe] doing well, training well and with confidence.
Sometimes things work out and sometimes they don’t, especially with the penalty. We have confidence in him and we’re sure he’ll do very well." Jude Bellingham , another man who has not hit the levels he did last season, absolved Mbappe of any blame despite his match-defining moment going the wrong way.
"It's a big moment in the game but it can happen," said the Englishman. "He's a wonderful player but the pressure that he holds because of how good he is is huge. The penalty is not the reason why we lost the game.
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