Mbappe opens up about early struggles at Madrid
Kylian Mbappe admits it took him longer than expected to adapt after joining Real Madrid but is relieved to have finally hit top form for the Spanish giant.
Former Paris Saint-Germain star Mbappe has four goals in his past three games, scoring a brace as Los Blancos trounced Las Palmas 4-1 in LaLiga last time out.
Mbappe, who scored 27 goals in 29 league appearances in his final season with PSG and now has 12 in 18 for Madrid, feels he was guilty of overthinking after his move.
The 26-year-old said a 2-1 LaLiga defeat at Athletic Bilbao in early December, when the forward missed his second penalty in a week, was a turning point.
"I believe it was a mentality issue and that was a point I realised that I had to work harder," Mbappe said.
"I was thinking too much about how to do things. Whether to go into space, whether to go to Vinicius's [Junior] area of the pitch, to Rodrygo's area ... when you overthink you don't focus on your game.
"I was fine physically and with the group but I knew I had to do more, that was the time to change the situation.
"I didn't come to Madrid to play badly. Here we have to play well all the time and now I am ready to do that.
"I felt bad because I'm a player who always wants to do more and when you don't perform to that level, it's normal to get targeted.
"I knew that it could happen and in the end, it was a good moment because after that game I changed my mentality. I couldn't do any worse, so when you hit rock bottom you can only go up.
Having scored three times in 12 matches across all competitions up to and including the Bilbao game, Mbappe has since found his shooting boots and has now netted 17 times overall this season.
"When you're a player like me, with everything that was expected of me, it's normal that people talk. But for me it's not something personal, you have to be calm and focus on your game. I knew I could change the situation and I did," he said.
"I'm never going to be a shy player. But when a player like me arrives at Madrid, he has to come with humility.
"It's not shyness, I can't arrive here and demand. I came with maximum respect and it's good that every day that goes by I have more importance in the team.
"My objective is to play my best game for Madrid in every game, to do better. I have the feeling that I can do better, I have it in my legs. I'm the kind of player who needs this pressure and who needs to do more."
Madrid is 20th on the 36-team UEFA Champions League table with nine points, four points adrift of the top eight spots that secure direct qualification to the Round of 16.
This week's opponent Salzburg is 32nd with three points, five points adrift of the play-off places.
