Mbappe glad to leave struggles behind him

IMAGE: After facing some early struggles, Kylian Mbappe now has 17 goals in all competition. Photograph: Nacho Doce/Reuters

Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe has been in inspired form with four goals in their last three games and said on Tuesday it took him longer than expected to play like his old self after moving from Paris St Germain as he adjusted to a new team.

Mbappe added that the most difficult challenge since arriving at the Bernabeu in the close season was overthinking and not focusing his efforts in the right direction.

The 26-year-old said Real’s 2-1 LaLiga defeat at Athletic Bilbao in early December, when the forward missed his second penalty in a week, was a turning point.

“I believe it was a mentality issue and that was a point I realised that I had to work harder,” Mbappe told a press conference ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League clash at home to Salzburg.

“I was thinking too much about how to do things. Whether to go into space, whether to go to Vini’s (Vinicius Jr’s) area of the pitch, to Rodrygo’s area … when you overthink you don’t focus on your game.

“I was fine physically and with the group but I knew I had to do more, that was the time to change the situation. I didn’t come to Madrid to play badly. Here we have to play well all the time and now I am ready to do that.

“I felt bad because I’m a player who always wants to do more and when you don’t perform in that level it’s normal to get targeted. I knew that it could happen and in the end it was a good moment because after that game I changed my mentality.

“I couldn’t do any worse, so when you hit rock bottom you can only go up,” he added.

Having scored only three times in Real’s 12 matches in all competitions up to and including the Bilbao game, Mbappe has since found his shooting boots and now has 12 LaLiga goals — to stand second in the scoring charts — and 17 overall.

“When you’re a player like me, with everything that was expected of me, it’s normal that people talk. But for me it’s not something personal, you have to be calm and focus on your game. I knew I could change the situation and I did,” he said.

“I’m never going to be a shy player. But when a player like me arrives at Madrid he has to come with humility.

“It’s not shyness, I can’t arrive here and demand. I came with maximum respect and it’s good that every day that goes by I have more importance in the team.

“My objective is to play my best game for Madrid in every game, to do better. I have the feeling that I can do better, I have it in my legs. I’m the kind of player who needs this pressure and who needs to do more.”

Real are 20th in the 36-team Champions League table on nine points, four points off the top eight spots that secure direct qualification to the last 16. Salzburg are 32nd on three points, five points adrift of the playoff places.

Ancelotti still hoping Real can claim top-eight finish in Champions League

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said on Tuesday he still believes his side have a chance to secure a top-eight finish in the 36-team Champions League table despite languishing in 20th place in the standings with only two games left.

Off the back of a fabulous campaign last season when they won record-extending titles in LaLiga and the Champions League, Real had a slow start to the defence of their European crown, losing three of their first five matches.

After a 3-2 win at Atalanta, they are four points off the top eight but Ancelotti reckons they can avoid a playoff and reach the last 16 directly if they win their last two games on Wednesday at home to Salzburg and next week at Brest.

“There are not many options other than to win the two remaining matches,” he told a press conference on Tuesday.

“Winning tomorrow is a very important one, obviously, because there’s not long to go before the end of the group stage. It’s time to get as much as we can … and then we’ll see. Tomorrow is vital and we’ll try to play well.

“However, if we have to play the two-legged knockout playoff, we’ll play at full strength. Bearing in mind that the schedule will be even more demanding, but we are used to it.”

Ancelotti said he was content with his forward line but stressed that his side still needed improvements in defence to contend for the Champions League title.

“It’s hard to give a grade from one to 100 to the team right now,” he said.

“Offensively we’re performing very well but defensively we need to improve a lot. This will be the key to success this season. If we do that we’ll fight to the end in all competitions.

“We have a very complete squad and, considering what happened last year when the departures raised the level of commitment, we found inspiration. We’re ready to fight for it all again this year.”

Real lost midfield talisman Toni Kroos to retirement at the end of last season, while defensive stalwart and captain Nacho joined Saudi Pro League club Al-Qadsiah.