“He is not at his best, but…” – Carlo Ancelotti defends Kylian Mbappe after another costly message

After three consecutive wins in La Liga, Real Madrid was defeated 2-1 by Athletic Club on wednesday It's a result that sees the defending champions lose out in the title race after Barcelona won convincingly in Mallorca 24 hours earlier.

They were costly mistakes that meant that Real Madrid fell to defeat at San Mames. Federico Valverde gifted the winner to Gorka Guruzeta, while Kylian Mbappe missed his second consecutive penalty when the score was 1-0. Ace for AS DiaryCarlo Ancelotti issued a strong defense of the latter after more critics came.

“I didn't speak to Mbappe. It was a complicated match – also, tough and competitive. When we equalize, you can think about having control and the little details cost us tonight. We missed the penalty… I won't evaluate a player's game because of a penalty that is sometimes scored and sometimes missed. Obviously it's sad, disappointed, but we have to move on.

“He is not at his best, but you have to give him time to adapt. He has scored 10 goals and is working to do better.”

Ancelotti also clarified the situation of penalties to Real Madrid on the back of the incident.

“Vinicius usually took a lot of penalties and all of them are good. Those who take penalties are three: Mbappe, Bellingham and Vinicius.”