Misfiring Mbappe vows to respond as Real Madrid brace for Girona clash

Kylian Mbappe is firmly under the spotlight after missing his second penalty in a week, but he has vowed to bounce back.

Real Madrid travel to Girona on Saturday to face last year’s surprise package in LaLiga.

Madrid were left licking their wounds after a 2-1 loss at Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday, their fourth defeat in the last seven games in all competitions.

Los Blancos, who are missing a host of players through injury including talisman Vinicius Junior, missed a golden opportunity to close the gap on leaders Barcelona, who they trail by four points with a game in hand.

Their absentee list also includes Eduardo Camavinga, Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao, the latter two out for the season with ACL tears, but perhaps Madrid’s biggest concern has been the form of Mbappe.

The France captain and World Cup winner arrived from Paris St Germain with sky-high expectations to boost an already stellar squad, but so far struggled to settle, looking tentative and out of sync with the rest of the team.

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

While he has scored 10 goals in all competitions, his all-round game has often been poor, and he was out of sorts again against Bilbao.

His penalty miss was a tame effort that made it easy for goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala to palm away; almost a carbon copy of the spot-kick he missed the previous week in Madrid’s Champions League loss to Liverpool.

Ancelotti admitted after the game that Mbappe was not in his best form and the France captain vowed to react.

“Bad result. A big mistake in a match where every detail counts. I take full responsibility for it. A difficult moment but it’s the best time to change this situation and show who I am,” Mbappe posted on Instagram.

After a stuttering start to the season, Girona have picked up form. They are on a four-game unbeaten run in the league and are eighth in the LaLiga standings on 22 points.

Yet their growing optimism suffered a blow on Wednesday as they were shocked in a 4-3 penalty-shootout defeat in the Copa del Rey by 10-man fourth-division side Logrones, who knocked them out in the second round.

Madrid have won their last two meetings with Girona in LaLiga, keeping clean sheets in both, and can make it three wins in a row against the Catalan side for the first time in the top flight.