Fans have given their thoughts on an incident involving Kylian Mbappe during Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Mbappé, 25, had a night to forget at Anfield.
The Madrid forward was kept quiet for much of the evening, and Conor Bradley’s perfectly timed tackle to dispossess the Frenchman on the 32-minute mark summed up Madrid’s and the forward’s evening on Merseyside.
The tackle seemingly woke the Liverpool faithful, who cheered their side on. But the former PSG man’s night got even worse on 61 minutes.
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When Lucas Vazquez was fouled by Andrew Robertson, the defending European champions were awarded a penalty in front of the Anfield Road end of the ground.
Up stepped Mbappé, who is normally a master of the spot kick, but his strike down to Caoimhin Kelleher’s left was saved by the Irishman to the delight of Arne Slot and his side.
To make matters worse, fans think they spotted an awkward moment in the tunnel before Madrid headed out for the second half.
With the score perfectly poised at 0-0, the Spanish side gathered in the tunnel.
While several players waited to take to the field, Mbappe appeared to try and offer teammate Jude Bellingham a few words of advice or tactical knowledge.
However, the England international appeared to ‘ignore’ his fellow Madrid star and spoke to Antonio Rudiger, Fede Valverde and Brahim Diaz instead.
Of course, it is unclear what exactly was said during the exchange between Bellingham and Mbappe, but fans were quick to weigh in with their thoughts on social media.
One said: “He [Kylian Mbappe]’s not even a leader in the locker room… Jude [Bellingham] didn’t even address him.”
Another added: “Even as a Barca fan, you gotta feel bad for him. Just a little, but I’m enjoying it.”
With a third exclaiming: “I feel sad for him, tbh.”
The 25-year-old was heavily linked with a move to the Spanish giants for some time but finally joined the club in June 2024 following the expiration of his PSG contract.
Despite scoring nine goals and providing two assists in his 18 games for Los Blancos, he is yet to hit the hefty heights expected of him.
One of the issues is the fact Vinicius Jr. favours playing on the left of a front three – the same position Mbappé employed at PSG.
This has seemingly left Carlo Ancelotti with a dilemma as both players are arguably world-class operators and would not be best pleased if they were made to sit on the bench.
The result saw Liverpool return to the top spot of the 36-team Champions League group phase while Madrid dropped to 24th position.
Topics: Champions League, Football, Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Fan Reactions
Luke Davies