Liverpool are still basking in the glory of having finally beaten Real Madrid on Wednesday.
The Reds would have been forgiven for thinking they would never get the better of Los Blancos having lost seven of the last eight meetings between the clubs.
But that hoodoo was laid to rest at Anfield this week, as Liverpool dispatched the European champions 2-0.
Madrid will claim that they had injury problems heading into the game, and that’s true. But they still had superstars such as Kylian Mbappe out on the pitch against the Reds.
Mbappe couldn’t get the better of Conor Bradley, though, and even had the ignominy of seeing a penalty saved by Caoimhin Kelleher.
After a night to forget for the World Cup winning forward, pundit Micah Richards claimed that he spotted something happening to Mbappe for the ‘first time ever’ against Liverpool.
Conor Bradley of Liverpool in action with Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD5 match between Live...
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Kylian Mbappe sees confidence sapped
Wednesday was only the second time Mbappe has played at Anfield. He also suffered defeat on his first visit to the stadium, losing 3-2 with PSG back in 2018.
Things went a little differently for the Frenchman that day, though, as he at least managed to score a well-taken equalising goal in front of the Kop.
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This time, Mbappe did not even look like scoring at any point, even when he stepped up to face Kelleher from 12 yards.
Alluding to that fact on The Rest Is Football on Friday, Richards claimed that it was the first time he’d ever seen Mbappe look ‘nervous’ to take a spot-kick.
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“When he stepped up to take the penalty, for the first time in his life it looked like he was nervous,” said the former Man City defender. “Not in terms of nervous to take the penalty, nervous because of his form.”
“It was a rare time where you looked at it and you thought ‘he might miss this,'” Gary Lineker agreed.
“First time ever!” interjected a stunned looking Richards.
Will Kylian Mbappe ever play for Liverpool?
When Mbappe joined Real Madrid in the summer it had looked like supporters’ hopes of ever seeing him at Liverpool had vanished.
Mbappe had been linked with Liverpool for just about as long as he’d been rumoured to be on the way to Madrid.
Shots xG Shot Accuracy Touches in Opposition Box Successful Dribbles
Kylian Mbappe vs Liverpool 2 0.83 100% 9 50%
The 25-year-old has previously claimed that his mother is a fan of the Reds and has publicly admitted to holding talks with Jurgen Klopp in the past.
With things going so poorly for him in Spain, though, maybe there is still a chance that he will look to have that experience in England.
If that does crop up over the next year or two, then you’d expect to see Liverpool’s name mentioned once again by the press. We’d still absolutely love to see that happen despite Mbappe’s below-par showing on Wednesday.
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