Kylian Mbappe was ‘scared’, ‘clumsy’ and ‘downright useless’ for Real Madrid against Liverpool as Anfield became his ‘hell’. The Spanish press is here.

Mbappe missed a penalty and was otherwise poor in defeat to Liverpool as Real slipped to a third Champions League defeat in five games, with the Frenchman in dreadful form since joining from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.

Steve McManaman did sense that “the Madrid press will be ruthless because he didn’t deliver again when he needed to” and the former Galactico was not wrong.

Some had sympathy, such as famed Liverpool-versus-Chelsea-in-the-mid-2000s-fan Jorge Valdano, who told Movistar Plus that Mbappe is “in that process of anxiety in which every time he touches the ball he wants to make the play of his life. That goes against the serenity that a thoroughbred like Mbappe should have.”

But others were significantly less supportive, with these the pick of the bunch:

1) Joel Del Rio, Marca journalist:

‘As the minutes passed at Anfield the door he would end up knocking on would be that of hell.

‘The French star lived a true nightmare against Liverpool, the best defence in the Premier League, to end up completing a game that will take a long time to forget. And if before what happened in this game the coaching staff had no doubts about who should be the owner of the left wing of Madrid, Mbappe’s performance ended up dictating the sentence. Erratic in the pass, in the controls and with such diminished confidence that it seemed difficult for anything to go well for him.

‘He tried at all times, but without the necessary daring to at least tickle Bradley who would sign in his face the best tackle of his sporting career.

‘Kelleher, the greatest ‘penalty stopper’ in the history of Liverpool, decided that his entry to hell had a one-way ticket but no return.’

Oh my. It was a cracking tackle from Bradley, to be fair. Can’t imagine it tickled.

2) Guti, El Chiringuito pundit:

“I think Mbappe hasn’t been up to par, obviously. That’s the reality.

“We would all like to know what is happening to Mbappe. He looks lacking in confidence, timid. Moments before taking the penalty, he looked scared. In that sense, he is certainly not happy with his performance and wants something more.

“The Madrid fans were waiting for him with great anxiety and that he has left his PSG bubble a little, where he had everything under control.

“Mbappe has now joined another team where he will surely have to compete with great players to be the best, and all that costs. And the Real Madrid shirt costs, and that’s normal.”

Could have at least offered some tips on backheel assists, fella.

3) Javier Tinto, La Tribu pundit:

“Forget about Mbappe picking up the ball 40 metres out and creating danger. He’s not that player and I don’t know if he’ll come back, although he’ll score goals because he’s already scored eight.

“Now Vinicius is the star, he’s the Ballon d’Or winner and he has to play on the left and supply Mbappe with the ball. I don’t see any quality in Mbappe.”

4) Alfredo Relano, Diario AS journalist:

‘Mbappe played very badly, he was a downright useless element. The bad thing is that up front everything was lost on Mbappe, a drain through which all the attacks escaped.’

A lovely turn of phrase from the big man.

5) Javi Amaro, Diario AS journalist:

‘The die-hard fans will forgive him, even after taking the penalty like a youngster, with more fear than shame.

‘Mbappe came to Madrid to win these games, and he’s helping them lose them. He’s clumsy, slow and lacking confidence.

‘The more Mbappe plays, the better Vinicius seems.’

So you’re saying he wasn’t great?