Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe has acknowledged that his side lacked the consistency needed to secure a top-eight finish after they dropped into the Champions League play-off round on Wednesday.
The 15-time European champions suffered a 4-2 loss to Jose Mourinho’s Benfica in Lisbon, ending the league phase in ninth place and missing out on automatic qualification for the last 16. As a result, Madrid will now face either Benfica or Bodo/Glimt in a two-legged play-off in February.
Madrid had won their previous three matches under new coach Alvaro Arbeloa, but their momentum was halted by Benfica’s strong display.
“The problem is we aren’t consistent in our play, we have to fix that, you can’t have one day (playing well) and another not, a champion team does not do that,” Mbappe told reporters.
“We deserve to be in this situation today, Benfica were better, now we have to play two more play-off games. It hurts to have to play those, we wanted to have the time in February to work on our game.”
Mbappe, who scored twice in the defeat, said there was no single explanation for Madrid’s poor performance.
“I think it’s a bit of everything. I can’t tell you it’s just a matter of attitude, because if I only say that, you’ll think we came here without any desire,” the French star said.
“If I tell you it’s a football issue, you’ll think the team is bad. No, I think it’s a broader issue, and in the Champions League every detail matters if you want to beat your opponent…
“It shows you that if you don’t come in with everything you need to win a Champions League match, the opponent will come and, as they say, make fools of you.”
Despite the setback, Mbappe urged Real Madrid supporters to back the team when they host Rayo Vallecano at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday in La Liga, rather than booing as they did earlier in the month.
“Come and support the team — we had a bad game — but we are not knocked out of the Champions League and in La Liga we’re in a good dynamic now,” he said.
“If the Bernabeu is with us, we will win on Sunday.”