AS: Mbappe has missed 5 of 24 penalties for Real Madrid, with a higher miss rate than Ronaldo and Ramos

According to AS, Mbappe has taken 24 penalties for Real Madrid and missed five of them, with a higher miss rate than Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos.

Two steps to the left, two steps forward, a feint, three small steps, another step, and a powerful strike with his right foot... but the shot was saved by Valles. Mbappe's missed penalty at La Cartuja Stadium brought controversy and past doubts back around the French forward. In his first year after joining Real Madrid, penalty issues troubled him for weeks and even months. In December 2024, he missed a penalty at San Mames and fell into a confidence crisis; it was already his second missed penalty in a week, after he had also failed from the spot at Anfield. Real Madrid subsequently lost to Athletic Club and Liverpool, and Mbappe publicly took responsibility. Ancelotti then allowed the formation of a penalty-taking committee, with Vinicius and Bellingham also joining, but the results were not ideal.

The situation is different now, but Mbappe once again has to face doubts at the penalty spot. The penalty saved by Valles was the second consecutive penalty Mbappe has missed. His previous miss came in the World Cup quarter-final against Morocco, where Bono became his 'nemesis'. Including this miss, Mbappe has taken 81 penalties in his career excluding shootouts and missed 16, giving him a miss rate of 19.7%. Looking only at his Real Madrid period, he has missed five of 24 penalties, a miss rate of 20.8%, meaning he misses one out of every five attempts.

Comparing him with Real Madrid's two main penalty takers in recent years, Cristiano Ronaldo had a miss rate of 14.1% during his Real Madrid career, missing 13 of 92 attempts; Ramos' figure was lower, with only one miss from 23 attempts and a miss rate of 4.3%. Both statistics also exclude penalty shootouts. Mourinho defended Mbappe when discussing the missed penalty at La Cartuja Stadium: 'When someone steps up to take a penalty, we are all standing with him.' Mourinho had previously also praised Mbappe as 'excellent'.

Neither Mourinho nor the Real Madrid dressing room will lose faith in Mbappe because of one missed penalty in the fourth league match, especially since Mbappe has already scored a hat-trick against Real Sociedad this season. The real concern may come from Mbappe himself, but he remains Real Madrid's undisputed penalty taker. To compete for the Ballon d'Or, the Pichichi Trophy and the European Golden Shoe, Mbappe cannot give up penalties, an important source of goals.