- Madrid lost on the road at Lille in their most recent Champions League match
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Monday that striker Kylian Mbappe should focus on scoring goals rather than pressing to help the team.
The Spanish and European champions haven’t been at their best this season, and they’re still figuring out how to incorporate the former Paris Saint-Germain superstar, who arrived this summer.
Madrid lost on the road at Lille in their most recent Champions League match, and they will host Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday in a rematch of last season’s final, which they won to extend their European championship record to 15 titles.
“I prefer that (Mbappe) scores goals than he presses,” Ancelotti told a news conference.
“The central striker position in our team has not changed, I ask him the same I asked of Karim (Benzema, who left in 2023).
“To be well positioned and to be ready every time we get the ball back to make a rapid transition.”
Mbappe has scored eight goals for Madrid in 12 games across all competitions this season, compared to Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski’s 14 in 12 appearances.
One of the knock-on effects of Mbappe’s arrival at Madrid is a more defensive role for Jude Bellingham, who was Los Blancos’ key attacking figure last season.
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