Real Madrid would have been better off with JOSELU up front than Kylian Mbappe in Liverpool defeat, claims Steve McManaman – as former Bernabeu star warns misfiring Frenchman the Spanish press will be 'ruthless'

Kylian Mbappe fared worse against Liverpool than the discarded 34-year-old Joselu would have, Steve McManaman claimed during Real Madrid’s 2-0 defeat at Anfield. 

It was a punishing night for the galactico, who missed a penalty and was slapped with a 4/10 in Mail Sport’s player ratings after being ‘bullied’ on the left wing by Conor Bradley.

Liverpool recorded their first victory over Real Madrid since 2009 on Wednesday night, with the triumph coming courtesy of second-half goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo.

Mbappe’s return of nine goals since arriving on a free from PSG in the summer is not to be sneered at, but he has been criticised as Madrid flounder. They sit 24th in the Champions League and a respectable second in LaLiga but were battered 4-0 by Barcelona in October. 

Former Madrid star McManaman suggested they were missing wily veteran striker Joselu, who scored 17 goals last season but was let go, and that Mbappe did not step up in the absence of injured Ballon d’Or runner-up Vinicius Junior. 

‘They needed him tonight. Without Vinicius, without some of the other stars, he flattered to deceive tonight. That was his moment (the penalty),’ McManaman told TNT Sports. 

The Real Madrid star had a penalty saved as Liverpool won 2-0 in the Champions League

‘Kylian is not a number nine’ or a ‘supreme goalscorer’ in the view of ex-Madrid star McManaman

‘The press will be ruthless about Kylian because he didn’t deliver again when needed to. Madrid are going through a rough patch and the big players are not playing well. 

‘It just magnifies it. Vinicius isn’t here – will Kylian step up tonight? No, he doesn’t.’ 

When Carlo Ancelotti brought on teenage forward Endrick in the second half, who has been struggling for minutes, McManaman questioned whether Mbappe could shoulder the goalscoring burden.

‘He’s getting very frustrated actually because he (Endrick) wants to play more. They’ve got enough centre-forwards but he (Ancelotti) doesn’t want to use them at this moment,’ McManaman said.  

‘They need a centre-forward tonight. Kylian is not a number nine – he might have it on his back but he is not a goalscorer supreme in those positions, is he? He likes to play out wide. They might as well have kept Joselu.’

Joselu was an unexpected star at the Santiago Bernabeu, brought in as a substitute stop-gap after Karim Benzema departed for the riches of Saudi Arabia. He produced in big moments, too – few Madrid fans will forget his two late goals against Bayern Munich to send them to the Champions League final. 

With respect to Mbappe, he was facing a defence which has only leaked eight Premier League goals and one in Europe – but they did concede twice to strugglers Southampton at the weekend.

None of Madrid’s attacking stars threatened much at Anfield and Jude Bellingham was keen to defend his under-fire team-mate. 

Joselu, 34, scored 17 goals for Madrid last campaign but was let go after one season

Jude Bellingham defended his misfiring French team-mate and insisted he is ‘wonderful’ 

He told TNT Sports: ‘It’s a big moment in the game (the penalty miss) but it can happen. He’s a wonderful player but, because of how good he is, the pressure he holds is humongous.

‘The penalty is not the reason why we lost the game. As a collective we weren’t good enough on the night. Kylian can keep his head high and I know for sure that he will produce many more moments that are huge for this club.’

Jurgen Klopp could never best Madrid, not in six attempts with the Reds, but Slot has managed to do so at the first time of asking. Slot has now won 17 of his 19 games in charge. 

Despite Madrid’s perceived toothlessness, Rio Ferdinand was eager to shift the focus onto Liverpool’s excellence on a memorable night- and called them ‘Rottweilers’. 

‘They’ve put the gauntlet down to all the other teams in Europe. They look the best team in Europe at the moment. They’re playing as a team and look the hungriest individuals about,’ he told TNT Sports. 

‘They’re not only getting results, they look starving. They look like they haven’t been fed for ages, Rottweilers running round the pitch hunting teams down. They’ve got the composure and people like Mo Salah have got the killer instinct to finish games off.