French forward Kylian Mbappe questioned the team’s will after a damaging defeat sent Real Madrid into the playoffs.
Published on January 29, 2026
Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe has said his side “deserve” to be in their current situation as his side were not consistent enough for a top-eight spot in the Champions League play-offs.
A record 15 times fell to the European champions 4-2 loss Jose Mourinho’s Benfica on Wednesday, finished ninth in the league phase table, meaning they will face their Portuguese winners or Bodo/Glimt in February instead of reaching the last 16 directly.
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After winning three of their last three games under new coach Alvaro Arbeloa, Madrid were brought back down to earth by Benfica in Lisbon.
“The problem is that we are not consistent in our game, we have to fix that, you can’t have one day (playing well) and not another, champions don’t do that,” Mbappe told reporters.
“We deserved to be in this situation today. Benfica were better. Now we have two more playoff games to play. It hurts to have to play them. We needed time in February to work on our game.”
Mbappe said he couldn’t explain why Madrid played so poorly against Benfica.
“I think it’s everything. I can’t tell you it’s just a matter of attitude, because if I say that you’ll think we came here without any desire,” said the French superstar, who scored twice in the defeat.
“If I tell you the problem of football, you will feel bad for the team. No, I think it is a wider problem and every detail is important if you want to beat your opponent in the Champions League.
“It shows you that if you don’t come with everything you need to win a Champions League match, the opponent will come and, as they say, make a fool of you.”
However, Mbappe urged Madrid fans to support the team at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday against Rayo Vallecano in La Liga instead of booing as they did earlier in January.
“Come and support the team – we had a bad game – but we are not out of the Champions League and we are now in a good dynamic position in La Liga,” urged Mbappe.
“If the Bernabeu is with us, we will win on Sunday.”