Mbappe falls flat on his face

Kylian Mbappe had a day to forget in Real Madrid’s 0-2 defeat to Liverpool in the 2024/25 Champions League qualifying round.

In the 17th minute at Anfield, Mbappe tried to hold the ball and break through the Liverpool defense. However, after passing 2 Liverpool players, the former PSG star suffered a very strong tackle from center-back Virgil van Dijk.

The high-speed movement combined with the strong touch from a tall player like Van Dijk caused Mbappe to immediately fall. He flipped over and literally hit his face on the ground. Mbappe appeared to grimace and feel uncomfortable when his teammates pulled him up.

Mbappe’s image was immediately widely spread on social media, clearly outlining the day of the French striker. The best moment came in the 61st minute when Real were awarded a penalty, but Mbappe’s shot was easily saved.

In the 90 minutes against Liverpool, Mbappe touched the ball 43 times, fired one shot, passed the ball accurately 75% of the time, won 6/13 duels and lost the ball 16 times. SofaScore gave Mbappe 6.3 points – the second lowest on the field, just above teammate Ferland Mendy (6.2 points).

Recently, coach Carlo Ancelotti has experimented with many different tactical schemes to find the best way to promote Mbappe’s ability. However, integrating the French striker into the new system is still an unsolved problem.

After Mbappe’s unfortunate miss, Real Madrid completely collapsed. Mohamed Salah also missed a penalty afterwards, but “The Kop” extinguished the visitors’ spirit with Cody Gakpo’s goal to double the gap. Earlier, Alexis Mac Allister opened the scoring in the second half.

The under the leadership of Mbappe showed signs of fatigue and accepted a 0-2 defeat. 3 points helped coach Arne Slot’s team lead the League Phase, UEFA Champions League rankings with 15 points, while Real Madrid ranked 24th with 6 points.