Carlo Ancelotti Wants Goals Over Pressing From Kylian Mbappe

Real Madrid coach, Carlo Ancelotti, said Monday he wants striker Kylian Mbappe to focus on scoring goals over pressing to help the team.

The Spanish and European champions have struggled to find their rhythm this season and are still seeking the best way to integrate the former Paris Saint-Germain star since his arrival this summer.

Madrid lost on the road at Lille in their last Champions League outing and host Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday in a rematch of last season’s final, which they won to earn a record-extending 15th European crown.

“I prefer that (Mbappe) scores goals than he presses,” Ancelotti told a news conference.

“The central striker position in our team has not changed, I ask him the same I asked of Karim (Benzema, who left in 2023).

“To be well positioned and to be ready every time we get the ball back to make a rapid transition.”

Mbappé has scored eight goals for Madrid in 12 matches across all competitions this season, while Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski has scored 14 in the same number of appearances.

The forward drew criticism in his homeland for not playing in France’s recent Nations League games after recovering from a thigh injury.

Swedish media reported he is being investigated over an alleged rape in Stockholm following a trip there during the international break, with Mbappe labeling the reports as “fake news.”

One consequence of Mbappé’s arrival at Madrid is that Jude Bellingham has taken on a more defensive role, shifting away from being Los Blancos’ primary attacking force last season.

The former Borussia Dortmund midfielder is yet to score for the club this season in nine games, after netting 10 in his first 10 appearances last year.

“We’re satisfied with his work… because he works a lot on the pitch, he’s always there, he competes, fights, sacrifices himself,” said Ancelotti.

“The truth is he hasn’t scored the goals he did last year, but the surprise isn’t this year; it’s last year, he scored a heap of goals that no one expected…

“We’ve always scored goals, and we’ll always score goals; we have players with great attacking talent up front… so for us at this moment, the work he is doing is much more important for us.”

Ancelotti said Madrid’s array of attacking stars, also including Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes, means the team enjoys end-to-end matches.

“I want (rock and roll football) because I have players with these characteristics,” continued Ancelotti.

“We find it harder to play a game based on possession and control because we don’t have players with characteristics to play in reduced spaces.

“A back-and-forth game suits us well, but we’re focussed on defending better as we did very well last year.”