Real Madrid slumped to just their second defeat in La Liga last night as Athletic Club de Bilbao put up a strong showing and took three points with a 2-1 win.
After a goalless first half that had a penalty annulled, Alex Berenguer opened the scoring for Athletic Club in the 53rd minute. Real Madrid had a chance to pull one back 15 minutes later, but it was not meant to be as the effort was wasted by Kylian Mbappe.
Eventually, however, Jude Bellingham found the equaliser in the 78th minute and a comeback no longer seemed out of reach.
A Federico Valverde howler, however, gifted the hosts the lead once more in the 80th minute and sealed the game in their favour.
Madrid Universal brings you three takeaways for Carlo Ancelotti from Athletic Club 2-1 Real Madrid.
A rough start away from home
The past 40 days have seen Real Madrid play predominantly at home. In fact, five of the team’s last seven games across all competitions were at the Santiago Bernabeu ahead of last night’s clash.
With the game at Mestalla called off for unfortunate reasons, the team’s only trips away from the Spanish capital were to Leganes and Anfield. In December, however, they play a compensatory spell away from home.
Last night was the team’s first of four successive and complicated away fixtures and they got off on the wrong foot, returning to square one in terms of performance.
The 90 minutes at San Mames once again featured exactly what the men in white have done so often this season – struggle to dominate games, and the Basque side created the better chances by far.
Ernesto Valverde’s side recorded a higher xG than Real Madrid (1.74 to Los Blancos’ 1.73 which included a penalty) and created as many big chances. While they did not dominate possession, they got into the final third more often than the visitors.
Real Madrid, however, made several individual errors on the night, with the match-winning goal notably coming from a Federico Valverde error that gifted the ball away in a compromising position.
The biggest implication of the result, however, is on the points table where Real Madrid have once again fallen behind Barcelona, and the confidence of the dressing room ahead of away games to Girona, Rayo Vallecano and Atalanta.
Kylian Mbappe continues to crumble
Another penalty, another miss. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)
After Kylian Mbappe missed a penalty against Liverpool, he was under the spotlight and was largely criticised for asking his teammates to step up for the spot-kick in the team’s clash against Getafe.
The Frenchman’s decision to offer the kick to Jude Bellingham and then approach Rodrygo only went to show how much he is feeling the pressure at the Spanish capital. If there was any iota of doubt remaining, it all crumbled once again last night.
When Real Madrid won a penalty against Athletic Club last night, Mbappe decided to step up to equalise the score. Not for a moment did he look confident with his strike and his meek effort once again failed to find the back of the net.
In 90 minutes, the Frenchman had three shots on target and missed two big chances and a penalty for Real Madrid. He only completed 22 passes and lost possession a staggering 14 times.
To say that Mbappe is going through a rough patch is an understatement, for he is now seriously crumbling under pressure. It is no longer a question of position on the field but confidence in his own abilities, and his situation is quickly growing into an emergency.
An unimposing midfield
Real Madrid have been struggling across the field all season, but the midfield is one department where they have looked continually unimpressive.
Despite having several big names, the team has always looked weak through the middle of the park and they once again struggled to impose themselves against the Basque midfield last night.
Aurelien Tchouameni returned to the defensive midfield last night and was instrumental in winning the ball back for Los Blancos. However, he was poor in possession and gave away the ball as easily as he won it.
Dani Ceballos, the team’s lone controlling and creative outlet, struggled to dictate the pace of the game and even Luka Modric could not bring the desired impact after coming on.
Federico Valverde committed the error that caused the defeat last night and was far from his best as well. That left just Jude Bellingham to carry the team in midfield. The Englishman was superb, but his lone efforts were not nearly enough to salvage the game.
The dysfunctional department has proven to be the reason for Real Madrid’s downfall time and time again this term as the team fails to build up from the back and link defence to attack. Given Athletic Club’s effective press, the result is not a surprise.