Kylian Mbappe insisted he was relaxed about his slow start to life at Real Madrid and is confident the goals will come.
Mbappe finally broke his duck in La Liga last night, scoring both goals as the European champions beat Real Betis 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
His first came following a clever back heel from Federico Valverde and the second from the penalty spot as Madrid moved up to second in the table, four points behind early pacesetters Barcelona.
Mbappe joined from Paris Saint-Germain over the summer amid great fanfare but the France captain says he has never felt pressure outside of settling in with his new team-mates.
He said: “The pressure I have is to adapt to the team. I’ve scored goals all my career, I’ll score goals for sure. The goals will come. Three games [without scoring] are a lot for me, but it’s okay, I have the confidence of my team-mates.
“There’s no pressure, it’s football. I have my quality. I’m here to be Kylian. There’s no pressure. I’m happy, I want to work.”
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) September 1, 2024
Talking about his opening goal, he added on Real Madrid TV: “It was a great moment. I’ve been waiting to score at this legendary stadium, the best in the world. The fans give me a lot of affection, even when I wasn’t scoring.”
A three-game ‘drought’
After netting in the UEFA Super Cup against Atalanta, Mbappe failed to score in games against Real Mallorca, Real Valladolid and Las Palmas.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti says he was not concerned by the 25-year-old’s form and was more interested in the team’s output rather than focusing on individuals.
“We’ve never put pressure on him to score goals,” Ancelotti said. “Kylian had a good game. He was very effective in the area, he took his chances, he worked hard.
“It was important for him to score, but we evaluate the collective work.”
