Mbappe misses penalty again as Real Madrid lose to Athletic Bilbao

Kylian Mbappe missed another penalty as Real Madrid were defeated 2-1 by Athletic Bilbao in a tense La Liga match on Wednesday. 

This comes just a week after the French star failed to convert a penalty in the Champions League against Liverpool. 

The loss meant Madrid couldn‍‍`t close the gap on league leaders Barcelona, who remain four points ahead.

The game saw Bilbao take the lead early in the second half when Alejandro Berenguer scored. 

Real Madrid fought back, with Jude Bellingham equalizing after Mbappe‍‍`s missed penalty. 

But Bilbao regained the lead when Gorka Guruzeta scored in the 80th minute, taking advantage of a mistake by Madrid‍‍`s Fede Valverde.

Mbappe‍‍`s penalty miss and the defeat will add to the pressure surrounding the former PSG star, who has faced a lot of criticism lately. 

Madrid were already missing key players, including Vinicius Junior, and coach Carlo Ancelotti made some changes, bringing Aurelien Tchouameni back into the starting lineup.

The first half was filled with high intensity but lacked clear chances. Thibaut Courtois made an important early save to deny Nico Williams, and Mbappe had a goal ruled out for offside. 

There was also a penalty shout for Rodrygo, but the referee decided he had gone down too easily. Bilbao had a big chance to take the lead when Inaki Williams set up Berenguer, but the shot was blazed over the bar.

Bilbao took the lead early in the second half when Berenguer pounced on a rebound after Courtois could only push out a cross from Williams. 

Madrid had their chance to equalize when Athletic goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala fouled Antonio Rudiger inside the box, but Mbappe‍‍`s penalty was weak and easily saved by Agirrezabala.

Mbappe did play a part in Madrid‍‍`s equalizer, though, with a powerful shot from distance that the goalkeeper could only push out to Bellingham, who calmly scored to make it 1-1. 

However, Madrid’s joy didn’t last long. Just two minutes later, Bilbao regained the lead when Guruzeta intercepted a pass from Valverde and fired the ball past Courtois.

In the final moments of the match, Mbappe struggled to make an impact, with his attempts to break down the left wing quickly shut down by Bilbao’s defense. 

The result sent the home fans into raptures, as Athletic celebrated a hard-fought victory. 

Meanwhile, Barcelona’s dominant 5-1 win over Mallorca kept them four points clear at the top, with Madrid still having one game in hand.