Kylian Mbappe will take penalties for Real Madrid from their next match as Vinicius Junior is punished for missing a spot-kick against Valencia.
The Brazilian winger failed to hand his team an early lead as he saw his feeble shot comfortably saved by Giorgi Mamardashvili.
The penalty miss proved costly as Madrid eventually went down 2-1 against Valencia in La Liga last weekend. Now, Marca reports that manager Ancelotti has decided to remove Vinicius Jr. from penalty duties as Mbappe is all set to take the club’s spot-kicks, starting with their upcoming Champions League fixture against Arsenal.
The blunder against Valencia was the Brazilian’s second penalty miss in the 2024-25 campaign, as he had earlier failed to convert a spot-kick against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. The report also adds that if Mbappe now fails to convert penalties, the next in line to take spot-kicks is Jude Bellingham. Like Vinicius Jr, Mbappe too has missed two penalties this season, while Bellingham has missed once.
Valencia goalkeeper Mamardashvili has revealed that he had offered a bet to the Brazilian winger. Vinicius was lining up to take a penalty when the custodian said he would pay the star €50 if he was to score, and Vinicius agreed to pay the same fee should he miss.
Los Blancos are set to visit North London to face Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final fixture at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.
