Madrid, Spain – Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe has revealed that a “mentality issue” hindered his early season form following his free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain last June.
The 26-year-old France captain struggled to find his feet at the Bernabeu, scoring just three goals in his first 11 appearances. This included high-profile penalty misses against Liverpool in the Champions League and Athletic Bilbao in La Liga, both of which resulted in defeats for Real Madrid.
“I believe it was a mentality issue and that was a point I realised that I had to work harder,” Mbappe admitted. “I was thinking too much about how to do things. Whether to go into space, whether to go to Vini’s [Vinicius Jr’s] area of the pitch, to Rodrygo’s area. When you overthink, you don’t focus on your game.”
Mbappe acknowledged that he felt he had reached a low point following these setbacks. “I was fine physically and with the group but I knew I had to do more, that was the time to change the situation. I couldn’t do any worse, so when you hit rock bottom you can only go up,” he said.
Since that defeat to Bilbao on December 4th, Mbappe has rediscovered his form, scoring eight goals in his last 10 appearances across all competitions.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has dismissed speculation about his future at the club. “I will never decide to leave Real Madrid,” the Italian manager declared. “This day will come, but it won’t be me the one who decides. It could be tomorrow or in five years. The plan is to be here with Florentino [Perez] for another four years and say goodbye.”
Real Madrid, currently 20th in the 36-team Champions League table, will face Red Bull Salzburg at the Bernabeu on Wednesday (20:00 GMT).
