French football star Kylian Mbappé admitted that it is difficult to reach the levels of performance that were expected when he signed with Real Madrid, but he is working hard to return to his previous form, coach Carlo Ancelotti admitted on Wednesday.
After missing a penalty kick in Real Madrid’s loss to Liverpool in the Champions League last week, Mbappe failed to convert another penalty kick on Wednesday as the Spanish league champions lost 2-1 to Athletic Bilbao.
It was another lackluster performance for Mbappe, 25, and Real Madrid, handing them their fourth loss in their last seven matches in all competitions, raising further questions about their form with the spotlight firmly on the France captain.
“He only has more than 1% (of his potential), but he is not at his best,” Ancelotti said in a press conference.
“However, we have to give him time to adapt (to Real Madrid). He has scored 10 goals and is working hard to improve and perform better.”
“I haven’t spoken to him yet. It was a complex, even and difficult competitive match. We missed a penalty kick… I don’t evaluate a player’s game because of a missed penalty kick… sometimes you score.” “And sometimes you miss him, and he’s obviously sad and disappointed, but we have to keep going.”
Real missed the opportunity to close the gap with leaders Barcelona, which leads the standings with 37 points, four points ahead of Ancelotti’s team, which is in second place, and five points ahead of Atletico Madrid, which is in third place, and each of the two competing teams has a postponed match.
Ancelotti said: “The match was even. Athletic is a very dangerous team. We competed and fought. I think the match deserved a draw.”
“But that’s the way it is… We’re still in the competition and we have to keep fighting. We could have achieved a better result, but we are here and we have to think about Saturday’s match against Girona.”