Takeaways from 1-2 defeats vs. Athletic Bilbao

Kylian Mbappé is at the center of another Real Madrid defeat as Los Blancos leave Bilbao with zero points.

Real Madrid came into their match against Athletic Bilbao on a 21-game unbeaten run in La Liga. Carlo Ancelotti’s men had successfully closed the gap on Barcelona at the top of the table and pulled a point from the Catalans at the weekend. Now the gap is back to four points after Real Madrid suffered a 1-2 defeat to Ernesto Valverde’s men.

15 minutes after Álex Berenguer gave the hosts the lead in the second half, Real Madrid were awarded a penalty which Mbappé took and missed. Jude Bellingham brought his side level in the 79th minute and scored his fourth goal in as many La Liga games, but it was not enough to salvage a result. Gorka Guruzeta capitalized on a defensive error from Fede Valverde to secure all three points for Athletic Bilbao.

Here are three takeaways from Real Madrid’s defeat to Athletic Bilbao.

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Just a week after Mbappé missed a penalty against Liverpool, he once again failed to convert from the spot against Athletic Bilbao. The Frenchman sent a low shot with no real power towards Julen Agirrezabala, which the keeper saved with relative ease. The penalty looked almost identical to the one Mbappé took at Anfield.

Bellingham took over the duties at the weekend and calmly scored from the spot against Getafe. Ancelotti confirmed that the players on the pitch decided who would take the penalties, but the manager must step in after Mbappé’s second miss in his last two attempts. Bellingham will be the team’s undisputed penalty taker until Vinícius Júnior returns.

Mbappé’s struggles have been widely publicised, but the lack of confidence with which the 25-year-old plays is unacceptable for someone of his caliber and his price tag. Walking away with zero points against Athletic Bilbao could have major title implications and the blame will fall on Mbappé’s head.

Time and time again, Athletic Bilbao were off to the races without much interference from Los Blancos. All it took was a poor pass from Real Madrid or a clever pass from the hosts to kick-start a counter-attack that exposed the visitors fully.

Too often Fran García and Lucas Vázquez were caught in possession or pushed too far forward, leaving acres of space for the Williams brothers to exploit on either wing. Had Athletic Bilbao shown more quality in the final third, the hosts could easily have scored more than two goals.

Valverde and Bellingham constantly found themselves on the back track to cover their full-backs, minimizing opportunities for the midfielders to link up with Rodrygo and Mbappé. Real Madrid is a different team when Bellingham plays as a free agent No. 10, yet he spent so much time covering up his teammates’ defensive mistakes that he again struggled to contribute to the attack for most of the game.

Valverde ended up making the ultimate mistake after trailing for the umpteenth time on the night to give Athletic Bilbao a 2-1 win.

Tchouaméni made his first appearance for Real Madrid after a month on the sidelines with an ankle injury, but his return left much to be desired. While he didn’t necessarily make any glaring mistakes, he failed to leave an impact on the game.

The midfielder is supposed to give Real Madrid more defensive stability, acting as insurance just in front of the backline, but Athletic Bilbao broke through Real Madrid’s lines as if he wasn’t even there. In fact, it was Bellingham and Valverde who broke into the defense while Tchouaméni remained unperturbed.

Ancelotti would have been better off giving Luka Modrić the nod or opting for a 4-3-3 with Brahim Díaz or Arda Güler up top. There was an obvious lack of creativity in midfield and Dani Ceballos and Tchouaméni in a rather useless double pivot did the visitors no favours.

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