Kylian Mbappé is at the center of another Real Madrid defeat as Los Blancos leave Bilbao with zero points.
Real Madrid came into its match against Athletic Bilbao on a 21-game road unbeaten streak in La Liga. Carlo Ancelotti's men had successfully closed the gap to Barcelona atop the table and pulled within one point of the Catalans at the weekend. Now, the gap is back to four points after Real Madrid suffered a 1–2 defeat to Ernesto Valverde's squad.
15 minutes after Álex Berenguer gave the hosts the lead in the second half, Real Madrid was awarded a penalty that Mbappé took and missed. Jude Bellingham brought his side level in the 79th minute, scoring his fourth goal in as many La Liga matches, but it was not enough to salvage a result. Gorka Guruzeta capitalized on a defensive mistake from Fede Valverde and secured all three points for Athletic Bilbao.
Here's three takeaways from Real Madrid's defeat to Athletic Bilbao.
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Just one week after Mbappé missed a penalty against Liverpool, he once again failed to convert from the spot against Athletic Bilbao. The Frenchman sent a low strike without any real power at Julen Agirrezabala that the keeper saved with relative ease. The penalty looked almost identical to the one Mbappé took at Anfield.
Bellingham took over the duties at the weekend and calmly scored from the spot against Getafe. Ancelotti confirmed the players on the pitch decide who takes the penalties, but the manager must step in after Mbappé's second miss in his last two attempts. Bellingham needs to be the team's undisputed penalty taker until Vinícius Júnior returns.
Mbappé's struggles have been widely publicized, but the lack of confidence the 25-year-old is playing with is unacceptable for someone of his caliber and his price tag. Walking away with zero points against Athletic Bilbao could have major title implications, and the blame will fall on Mbappé's head.
Time and time again, Athletic Bilbao was off to the races without much intervention from Los Blancos. All it took was one poor pass from Real Madrid or one clever pass from the hosts to kickstart a counter-attack that fully exposed the visitors.
Too often Fran García and Lucas Vázquez were caught out in possession or pushed too far forward, leaving acres of space for the Williams brothers to exploit on either wing. Had Athletic Bilbao shown more quality in the final third, the hosts could have easily scored more than two goals.
Valverde and Bellingham found themselves constantly tracking back to cover for their fullbacks, minimizing the opportunities for the midfielders to link up with Rodrygo and Mbappé. Real Madrid is a different team when Bellingham plays as a free-roaming No. 10, yet he spent so much time covering for his teammates' defensive errors that he once again struggled to contribute on the attack for most of the match.
Valverde wound up making the ultimate mistake after tracking back for the umpteenth time on the night and gifted Athletic Bilbao the 2–1 victory.
Tchouaméni made his first appearance for Real Madrid after a month on the sidelines with an ankle injury, but his return left plenty to be desired. While he did not necessarily make any glaring errors, he failed to leave an impact on the game.
The midfielder is supposed to give Real Madrid more defensive stability, acting as an insurance policy just in front of the backline, but Athletic Bilbao broke through Real Madrid's lines like he was not even there. In fact, it was Bellingham and Valverde pitching in on defense while Tchouaméni remained unbothered.
Ancelotti would have been better off giving Luka Modrić the nod or opting for a 4-3-3 with Brahim Díaz or Arda Güler up top. There was a blatant lack of creativity in the midfield, and Dani Ceballos and Tchouaméni in a rather useless double pivot did the visitors no favors.
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