Ancelotti pleads for goals over pressing from Mbappe

Kylian Mbappe should be scoring more goals for Real Madrid, so says Carlo Ancelotti ahead of their upcoming Champions League fixture with Borussia Dortmund.

Since his arrival from Paris Saint-Germain, Mbappe has eight goals in 12 appearances in all competitions, six of which have come in LaLiga this term.

The 25-year-old was on target in Los Blancos’ 2-1 win over Celta Vigo on Saturday, though he was replaced by Dani Ceballos for the final eight minutes of the game.

He has registered 44 shots this season, more than any other player in LaLiga, while only Robert Lewandowski (22) has had more shots on target than Mbappe (20).

The Frenchman, however, has underperformed his expected goals (xG) tally of 7.18 in the Spanish top-flight, something Ancelotti wants him to improve on.

“I want Mbappe to score goals, I prefer he scores rather than pressing,” Ancelotti said.

“The centre-forward’s role hasn’t changed, I ask the same of him that I asked of (former Real striker player) Karim Benzema.

“Mbappe needs to position himself well and be smart every time we recover the ball to make a quick transition.”

Madrid are preparing to face Dortmund in a repeat of the Champions League final from last season, though Mbappe has struggled against the German side of late.

Dortmund are the opponent that Mbappe has faced the most times in the Champions League (eight).

But after scoring three goals in his first two games against them (in 2016-17 for Monaco), he’s only netted once in the last six and failed to find the net in the last three.

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Ancelotti also praised Jude Bellingham for his start to the season, despite the England midfielder failing to find the back of the net so far this season.

Bellingham netted 23 goals and added 13 assists in all competitions during his debut season with Los Blancos, winning two trophies along the way.

Since the start of last season, Bellingham has delivered the joint-most assists in the Champions League (five – level with Marcel Sabitzer), and Ancelotti is not concerned by the 21-year-old’s lack of goals this term.

“We are satisfied with Bellingham’s work. He works hard on the field, competes, fights and makes sacrifices,” Ancelotti said.

“He hasn’t scored like last year, but that was unexpected.

“We’ve always managed to score and will continue to because we have a lot of talent up front. Bellingham’s role is more important than the goals he scored last year.”