Kylian Mbappé came to the aid of Brahim Diaz this week at a press conference, ensuring that Real Madrid players would help their teammate digest his missed panenka in the final of the African Cup of Nations. But in a funny way, the Bondynois himself put the subject back on the table on Saturday during the Merengues’ victory at Villarreal.
When hitting his penalty, Mbappé therefore chose the panenka. If he wanted to help his teammate move on, it’s clearly a failure.
Real’s top scorer assures that his gesture was a wink to his partner. Others saw it as a clumsy chambering, or even a matter of rather misplaced ego. Whatever happens, this decision is the talk of the town. And Mbappé, if he probably didn’t want to do badly, could have played it more classic.
Brahim Diaz knew about Mbappé
Oddly enough, this is the second panenka of the season for the French striker. In September, he had already scored one, quite similar in its execution, on the Levante field.
Brahim Diaz was then warming up, alongside Jude Bellingham. And the Moroccan international’s reaction is quite significant (see video below). After Mbappé’s panenka, he turned to the Englishman, telling him:
“I told you so!” »
Brahim Diaz had felt that Mbappé was going to try the panenka, and perhaps he was inspired by him when hitting his penalty in the CAN final. Did he expect the Frenchman to do it again on Saturday evening, given the context? That’s another question…
