Carlo Ancelotti explains why Kylian Mbappe is in a ‘difficult moment’ at Real Madrid
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Carlo Ancelotti said Real Madrid would support Kylian Mbappe in his “difficult moment” and explained that the striker is lacking confidence after missing a penalty in the 2-0 defeat at Liverpool.
Mbappe’s struggles since signing for Madrid in the summer continued as he was marked out of the game by Conor Bradley before Caoimhin Kelleher saved his spot-kick.
“This has happened before in my career many times, forwards when you are a striker you want to score and get a bit of confidence,” Ancelotti said.
“There is a medicine which is a difficult moment for him, I think Mbappe, it is a difficult moment we have to support him and give him our love, he will soon be fine.
“It could be a lack of confidence maybe, sometimes maybe when you have moments when things aren’t working out, the idea is to keep things simple, don’t complicate life.
“You don’t need to blame him for missing penalties, people miss penalties, it happens a lot.”
Mbappe has scored nine goals in 18 appearances for Madrid since leaving Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent at the end of last season. But he has only one goal in the Champions League for his new club, which has lost three of its five games in the revamped competition.
“Things are not running for him. We’ve got to be patient. He is an extraordinary player — a fantastic player,” Ancelotti said.
Madrid are 24th in the new-look 36-team league phase of the competition. The top eight teams advance to the round of 16, while those ranked ninth to 24th go into a playoff.
Mbappe wasn’t the only player to fail to score a penalty in the match, with Mohamed Salah also missing a spot-kick of his own. But substitute Cody Gakpo doubled Liverpool’s advantage.
Victory saw new Liverpool head coach Arne Slot manage something his predecessor Jurgen Klopp never could by beating Real in the Champions League. Klopp lost five and drew once in six games against Madrid — including two defeats in the final.
Liverpool extended their perfect record in the Champions League this season and are top of the standings after five games.
Each team play eight games in the opening phase. Madrid plays Atalanta next month and Liverpool face Girona.
