Athletic Bilbao 1-2 Real Madrid: Mbappe penalty miss proves costly

Kylian Mbappe missed a second penalty in the space of a week as LaLiga champions Real Madrid slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Athletic Bilbao.

A week on from missing from the spot against Liverpool in the Champions League, Mbappe again fluffed his lines from 12 yards after Antonio Rudiger had been fouled.

Athletic were leading 1-0 thanks to Alex Berenguer’s 53rd-minute effort, but Mbappe’s tame effort was easily saved by Julen Agirrezabala.

Madrid did drag themselves level through Jude Bellingham in the 78th minute, yet Athletic were swiftly celebrating a second at the other end.

Federico Valverde gifted the ball to Gorka Guruzeta, who duly struck the winner beyond Thibaut Courtois.

The defeat sees Madrid remain four points behind Barcelona in LaLiga, though Los Blancos do have a game in hand.

Real missed the chance to close the gap on leaders Barcelona who top the standings on 37 points, four ahead of second-placed Real who have a game in hand.

2 – Kylian Mbappé has missed two of his five penalties for Real Madrid in all competitions, more than any other LaLiga player this season. Pressure. pic.twitter.com/2tAWbsdVY0

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) December 4, 2024

Data Debrief: Mbappe makes a mess of it

Mbappe has now missed two of his five penalties for Madrid in all competitions, and this represents another dent for the France star as he looks to get his career in Spain truly up and running.

Madrid, meanwhile, have now lost five of their last 11 matches in all competitions (W6), suffering one more defeat than in their previous 73 matches (W52 D17 L4).

Bilbao, on the other hand, became the only team to have beaten Madrid and Barcelona in all competitions in 2024.