Kylian Mbappé missed his second penalty in a week as LaLiga champions Real Madrid slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Athletic Club on Tuesday, their fourth loss in the last seven games in all competitions.
Unbeaten for almost two months, Athletic dominated proceedings and took the lead thanks to a close-range effort by Alex Berenguer in the 53rd minute, but Mbappé had a great chance to level from the spot after defender Antonio Rudiger was fouled 15 minutes later.
However, the France forward, who missed a spot kick in the Champions League loss at Liverpool last week, stroked another weak shot that made it easy for Julen Agirrezabala to palm the effort away.
Madrid finally managed to equalise in the 78th minute when Jude Bellingham fired home a rebound, but a bad mistake by Federico Valverde gifted the ball to Gorka Guruzeta who struck the winner past a helpless Thibaut Courtois one minute later.
Madrid missed the chance to close the gap on leaders Barcelona, who top the standings on 37 points, four ahead of second-placed Real who have a game in hand. Athletic are fourth on 29 points.
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It was another uninspired performance by Mbappé who has missed two of his five penalties for Real Madrid in all competitions, making him the LaLiga player who has failed to convert most penalties this season.
Mbappé arrived with sky-high expectations to boost a stellar Real Madrid squad who won last season’s LaLiga and Champions League titles, but so far he has been a shadow of his old self, looking tentative and out of sync from the rest of the team.
He has scored 10 goals in Madrid’s 21 games in all competitions, only seven from open play.
At Athletic, he was a non factor until he fired an angled strike from the edge of the box late in the second half that Agirrezabala palmed straight to Bellingham who stroked home the rebound to equalise.
Rodrygo wasted a golden opportunity to get Madrid the lead in the next play, but Valverde’s error, which handed substitute Guruzeta the winner, raised more questions about Real’s form with Mbappé firmly under the spotlight.
