The journey of time is sometimes sweet, sometimes bitter! Kylian Mbappe’s two Instagram posts before and after the match between Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao make that clear. Real Madrid played the match yesterday in La Liga at Bilbao. Before going to play on the field, Mbappe wrote on his Instagram post, ‘I’m going to San Mames, it feels good.’
But alas, people think one thing, and then another. After the match against Bilbao, Mbappe was no longer happy. He wrote in his Instagram post about his heartbroken disappointment, ‘Bad result. A big mistake in a match where everything is calculated. I take full responsibility for it. A difficult moment.’
What happened in the match and what mistake did Mbappe make that plunged him into such despair! Real had a chance to reduce the points gap with Barcelona at the top. But they lost 2-1 at Bilbao. Undoubtedly, it was a bad result for them. Mbappe’s ‘big mistake’ was that he failed to take advantage of the golden opportunity to make the result a little better for Real. Mbappe failed to score from the penalty spot in the 68th minute.
Earlier, Real’s French star missed a penalty in the same way against Liverpool in the Champions League last Wednesday. It is natural that Mbappe has started talking about missing penalties in two consecutive matches. In that conversation, an Instagram ID named ‘Trollfootball’, which makes fun of various aspects of football, gave Mbappe a title – Miss Penalty!
Two small statistics can be brought forward to understand why this title was given to Mbappe. This is the first time in his career that he has missed two penalties in a week. And this year, he has missed a total of four penalties for PSG and Real. This is also the first time that he has missed four penalties in a year.
Real’s Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti has stood by Mbappe during such a bad time. To hide the failure of the French star, he said at the post-match press conference, ‘I will not analyze a player’s game through penalties. I have to give him time. He has scored 10 goals and can definitely do better. He is also working.’
But why can’t Mbappe show his true face in the Real jersey? His idol, Cristiano Ronaldo, gave one reason for this a couple of months ago in an interview with Rio Ferdinand, saying, “We have to see if he is in a good mood, if he can handle the pressure; I tell you one thing, Real Madrid is not PSG.”
Who knows when Mbappe will be able to think of Real as PSG! The sooner he can, the better for him. Mbappe, of course, wanted to reassure Real’s fans. He made a promise, “It’s a difficult moment. But this is also the best time to change this situation and show who I am.”
Mbappe, who joined Real in July, has scored 10 goals in 20 matches for the club so far.
