Kylian Mbappe has yet to score his first LaLiga goal for Real Madrid under Carlo Ancelotti, even though it has only been two games. Los Blancos recently picked up a 3-0 win over Real Valladolid. Federico Valverde, Brahim Diaz and 18-year-old Endrick featured on the scoresheet. Only Valverde was among the starters, as Kylian Mbappe led the line. Yet, for the second game in a row, Spanish opposition held the French star to limited opportunities and no goals.
However, Carlo Ancelotti is not stressing the lack of goals early on from Mbappe. Speaking after the win against Valladolid, Ancelotti said Mbappe is putting himself in the spots to find success. It is just a matter of seeing one of his opportunities find the back of the net.
“[Mbappé] is a spectacular forward, he’s very fast, he moves well without the ball,” Ancelotti said. “He had three chances. I think in that position he’ll score, as he’s always scored. I don’t think he has to play on the left or the right. He’ll score goals.”
The Italian has been the focus of conversation regarding where he deploys Mbappe. In both of Real Madrid’s first two games, Ancelotti played Mbappe as the sole striker with Vinicius to his left and Rodrygo to his right. Reporters asked if playing Mbappe down the middle has limited his ability to score and contribute to the team. For PSG and France, for example, Mbappe played on the left wing. It allowed him to use his speed most effectively before cutting in on his favored right foot.
Ancelotti disagreed with the notion that playing Mbappe in the middle of the field hinders how effectively Real Madrid uses him. In other words, he sees no reason to change his tactics at this stage.
Although he has yet to contribute a goal or assist, Ancelotti is right in saying Mbappe is in the right location. Based on two games, Mbappe has had some level of success playing down the middle. In the game against Valladolid, he had a brilliant opportunity to finish a ball from the left side from Vinicius. The Brazilian’s outside-of-the-foot pass played Mbappe behind the opponent’s defense. He tried to deflect the ball in with his left foot, but the shot was directly at the Valladolid goalkeeper. He also blitzed around the Valladolid defense but skewed a shot wide in the 80th minute with his right foot.
Early on, Mbappe leaned more into the left side. Each of his eight shots in this fledgling season has come from the left side. In each game, there have been instances of Vinicius, Rodrygo and Mbappe bunched close together on the left side of the field. There is an argument that each player is more comfortable on the left. However, given his form on that side of the field for Ancelotti last season, Vinicius gets the nod.
Mbappe did not seem displeased with the performance, as he prioritized three points over getting off the mark individually.
“It makes me very happy. I’ve started off at the Bernabéu winning the game and we got the three points,” Mbappé told Real Madrid TV. “It was a great night. The fans were top. We wanted to win the first game [here]. It’s a dream playing in this stadium, but we have another game on Thursday, and we want to win again.”
PHOTOS: IMAGO
