Kylian Mbappe admitted he used the pain of missing a penalty kick in the 2-1 defeat to Athletic Club to inspire his recent improvement.
The Frenchman has endured a poor start to Real Madrid, falling well below expectations despite what his goal tally might suggest, and found himself under enormous pressure earlier this month when he missed a penalty in Bilbao, a week after doing the same against Liverpool. .
But since then, Mbappe has shown real signs of improvement. He scored against Girona and dazzled with an early goal against Atalanta before going off injured, but returned to run the show in the 3-0 win over Pachuca in Qatar and dazzled in Sunday's 4-2 win over Sevilla.
“I can do a lot,” Mbappe said after the match. “I know I have a lot more football in my legs than I show.
“But, as I said before, my level has improved in the last few matches. Bilbao gave me a good performance, because I hit rock bottom and missed the penalty… I realized that I had to give everything I had for this shirt.” With personality.
“We are getting to know each other better. My arrival has changed many things in the team, but the adaptation, as the coach said, is over. I feel very good and you can see on the pitch that I understand the rest of the players better and that we are all playing better now. “
Madrid Coach Carlo Ancelotti also continued his support for Mbappe, laughing and reminding reporters that he never doubted the Frenchman despite the endless waves of questions about his struggles.
“His adaptation period is over,” Ancelotti said. “It shows that sometimes I'm right!
“He was critical of himself, and thanks to this attitude, he was able to overcome a difficult situation. He has already shown all his quality.”