Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti has moved to back under-fire frontman Kylian Mbappé once more.
This of course comes fresh off another evening to forget for the 25-year-old in Blancos colours on Wednesday.
Real Madrid made the trip to the Basque Country last night, for a La Liga showdown with Ernesto Valverde’s Athletic Club.
Mbappé, for his part, featured from the off in the clash, joining Rodrygo up top.
With his side trailing by a goal to nil during the 2nd-half, the France international was then afforded the chance to drag Real back into things, from the penalty spot.
For the 2nd time in the space of a week, however, Mbappé fluffed his lines from 12 yards, a pivotal moment en route to an eventual 2-1 defeat.
As much came amid another altogether underwhelming all-round display on the part of the summer arrival in Spain’s capital.
Widespread criticism, in turn, has since been aimed in Mbappé’s direction, from across the Spanish football landscape.
As alluded to above, though, one individual who was quick to throw his backing behind the under-fire attacker was head coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Speaking to the media in the aftermath of his side’s 4th defeat in seven, Ancelotti called for patience with Mbappé, who is ‘working hard’ behind the scenes:
“Mbappé is sad about the penalty, yes… but it can happen. Sometimes you score the penalty, sometimes not. I’m not gonna judge a performance by the penalty.
“He’s not playing at his best level, but let’s give him time. He’s working hard. He’s scored 10 goals, he can be better but he’s working hard.”
Conor Laird – GSFN