Mbappe vows to respond as Madrid braces for Girona
Kylian Mbappe missed his second penalty in a week as Real Madrid was beaten by Athletic Club in midweek, but the Frenchman has vowed to bounce back.
Real Madrid travels to Girona to face last year's surprise package in LaLiga.
Madrid was left licking its wounds after the 2-1 loss at Athletic, Los Blancos' fourth defeat in the past seven games in all competitions.
Calro Ancelotti's side is also missing a host of players through injury including talisman Vinicius Junior, and missed a golden opportunity to close the gap on leader Barcelona, which it trails by four points with a game in hand.
Its absentee list also includes Eduardo Camavinga, Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao, the latter two out for the season with anterior cruciate ligament tears, but perhaps Madrid's biggest concern has been the form of Mbappe.
The France captain and FIFA World Cup winner arrived from Paris Saint-Germain with sky-high expectations to boost an already stellar squad, but has so far struggled to settle, looking tentative and out of sync with the rest of the team.
While he has scored 10 goals in all competitions, his all-round game has often been poor, and he was out of sorts again against Bilbao.
His penalty miss was a tame effort that made it easy for goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala to palm away; almost a carbon copy of the spot-kick he missed the previous week in Madrid's UEFA Champions League loss to Liverpool.
Ancelotti admitted after the game that Mbappe was not in his best form and the France captain vowed to react.
"Bad result. A big mistake in a match where every detail counts. I take full responsibility for it. A difficult moment but it's the best time to change this situation and show who I am," Mbappe posted on Instagram.
After a stuttering start to the season, Girona has picked up form. It is on a four-game unbeaten run in the league and is eighth in LaLiga on 22 points.
Yet its growing optimism suffered a blow on Thursday (AEDT) as it was shocked in a 4-3 penalty-shootout defeat in the Copa del Rey by 10-man fourth-division side Logrones, which knocked it out in the second round.
Madrid has won its past two meetings with Girona in LaLiga, keeping clean sheets in both, and can make it three wins in a row against the Catalan side for the first time in the top flight.
