Kylian Mbappe was seen storming down the tunnel after Real Madrid suffered a shock thumping at the hands of city rivals Atletico Madrid. The Frenchman did not wish to shake hands with his opponents, nor clap Los Blancos' travelling fans, opting to make a beeline straight to the dressing room. Keen to avoid interacting with anyone, Mbappe was visibly unhappy with the performance and result.
Mbappe on target but Madrid hammered in derby
Mbappe was on the scoresheet again for Madrid after 25 minutes, cancelling out Robin Le Normand’s opener. Teenage sensation Arda Guler then put the away side ahead and on course to take a precious three points against Diego Simeone’s side, but Alexander Sorloth levelled just before the break. A rampant and Julian Alvarez-inspired Atletico then punished their rivals in the second half, scoring three unanswered goals to win 5-2 and leave Mbappe crestfallen. Angered with his side’s collapse, Mbappe went straight to the dressing room and did not bother showing any form of sportsmanship or grace in defeat. The defeat means Madrid have opened the door for Barcelona to take a lead at the top of La Liga and surrender their grip on the title race.
AdvertisementWatch the clipGettyAtletico continue to dominate the derby
Atletico have now gone six La Liga games against their bitter rivals without defeat and Mbappe is yet to taste victory in this fixture in the league. Los Blancos have triumphed over Atletico in the Champions League, but Simeone continues to be a thorn in Madrid's side, even with the French forward adding his eighth league goal of the campaign. Mbappe is arguably in the best form of his short Madrid career so far and only needed one chance to fire past Jan Oblak in the Atletico goal. Yet, his performances may go unrewarded should the Madrid defence continue to be so open. Alonso's side's capitulation against Atletico will no doubt set off alarm bells at the club, with a tight title tussle with Barcelona set to be won by the finest of margins. They were dealt a blow in their quest to strengthen their defence this week too, with key centre-half target William Saliba rejecting their approaches to seal a new long-term contract with Arsenal. The club have been linked also with a move for Liverpool's Ibrahima Konate, but signing the French defender before next summer may be difficult.
Mbappe sulk suggests attitude problems persist
Following the final whistle, only Dean Huijsen, Raul Asencio and Gonzalo García stayed behind to applaud their fans in the away end. Mbappe has been accused of possessing a poor attitude and his rocky start to life in the Spanish capital was attributed to that very claim, but he had appeared to turn his mindset around earlier this year. The Madrid faithful will no doubt be disappointed to see their starman shirk away from the pitch in such a way following a humiliating defeat.
Before the game, manager Alonso had praised his players and insisted they were building strong foundations for success. The Spanish coach said: "The path is good. Because of the results and the way we’re doing things. We’ve been here for 51 days and there’s still a long way to go. We're building a solid foundation to be competitive in the Champions League, La Liga, and Copa del Rey. Many feel connected and engaged, which is important, but there are still things to improve. There are things we can do better. The path is good in terms of results and the way we're doing things. This is just the beginning, and we want to continue competing well."
However, following today's result, Alonso has been left far from happy, but remained positive. "It was a bad game, we didn't play well either collectively or under pressure, we weren't at the level we should have been," he said. "We're in a building phase, today is our first defeat and we have to draw conclusions from what happened but there are no excuses, we're hurt, it's a derby and a deserved defeat. We weren't on our game, we were lacking a gear and the defeat hurts."