Culture
Kylian Mbappe’s night to forget: That tackle, a missed penalty and attitude questions
Liverpool ran roughshod over Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, leaving Carlos Ancelotti’s side — particularly Kylian Mbappe — hurt.
At the club, the fans and the media agreed that, with Vinicius Junior absent through injury, this was Mbappe’s day to prove his worth to his new club after a mixed start to the season.
But he did not. Quite the opposite, as he missed the penalty that could have brought his team back into the game.
His plight was summed up at the final whistle, seconds after he had lost possession for the 15th time in a sequence that ended with an amazing Thibaut Courtois save to stop Luis Diaz from making it 3-0. The Frenchman stood for a few moments with his hands on his hips before being the first player to reach the dressing room, crestfallen and consoled on his way by team-mate Jesus Vallejo and assistant manager Davide Ancelotti.
Losing the battle with Bradley
Before his move to Real Madrid was announced, there was debate among fans and in the media about how Mbappe might fit in. The main concern is that his preferred position, on the left, is already occupied by Vinicius Jr, a player rated as the second-best in the world by the Ballon d’Or judges.
The Brazilian started the season on the wing but at Leganes on Sunday, in an attempt to improve the Frenchman’s fortunes, Ancelotti switched their positions.
With Vinicius Jr injured for the trip to Anfield, Mbappe’s area of greatest impact was cleared. And opposite him was Conor Bradley, who was playing just his fourth Champions League game and his first as a starter.
Although Bradley received help from his team-mates, Mbappe continually failed one-on-one with him and against other opponents.
In the opening four minutes, he had the first two losses, celebrated with jubilation by the home fans, who whistled at him throughout. The first mistake led to a Liverpool chance, too, with Raul Asencio clearing off the line.
One of the most significant images came in the 32nd minute, when he challenged Bradley in a race he would have been expected to win easily, but lost. Anfield celebrated it like a goal.
Mbappe finished with just one shot on target (the saved penalty) and another blocked, three successful dribbles (the most, along with Brahim Diaz) out of six, a 75 per cent passing success rate (the lowest outfielder), zero chances created, 15 possessions lost and three recoveries. His erratic display is illustrated in The Athletic’s player dashboard below.
The missed penalty
Mbappe was presented with an opportunity in the second half to change the script.
Eight minutes after going 1-0 down to Alexis Mac Allister’s goal, a combination between substitutes Dani Ceballos and Lucas Vazquez ended in a penalty for a foul on Vazquez. Without Vinicius Jr, there was no doubt the penalty taker would be Mbappe.
Antonio Rudiger stayed close to the ball and his team-mate during the VAR check, making sure no one disturbed him. But when Mbappe stepped up to face Caoimhin Kelleher, Liverpool’s academy goalkeeper came out on top.
Caoimhin Kelleher denies Kylian Mbappé from the spot! 😳
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/fr45wUF2Cj
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 27, 2024
Mbappe reacted by putting his hands to his head, though he was a little less expressive afterwards. Briefly, he thought he might have another chance, waiting to hear whether the penalty would be retaken if the goalkeeper had stepped off his line, only to be disappointed again.
A third of his goals this season — three out of nine — have come from penalties. But this was not his night.
Is Mbappe’s attitude an issue?
Body language can only tell us so much but Mbappe’s gestures have not been giving a good impression for some time.
He looked lacking in confidence as he went to the changing room at half-time. After those minutes inside, before returning to the pitch, the cameras caught him apart from a group of team-mates, as if distant, while Jude Bellingham was leading the way, giving directions and encouragement.
Mbappe’s frustration could be seen after Cody Gakpo’s goal made it 2-0 with 14 minutes remaining, protesting to the referee about a possible offside.
Just before that, there had been a moment that reflected his impotence, losing a ball from Luka Modric’s short corner and losing a race back to regain possession.
Many fans also criticised him for his attitude after the game, not going to greet the away stand. He also did not show his face in front of the media or the mixed zone, with Modric, Ceballos and Bellingham representing instead.
Ancelotti was asked about the Frenchman’s mood.
“It could be that he lacks a bit of confidence,” said the Italian. “When you have a moment when things aren’t going your way, the idea you have to have is to play simply and sometimes you complicate things a bit more. But this moment is missing. You can’t judge a player for a missed penalty.”
Support to overcome a difficult period
Mbappe is struggling and his numbers reflect that. He has produced nine goals and two assists in 18 games, at a rate of a goal involvement every 136.5 minutes.
How can he improve his situation?
Perhaps the first step is support from within, something he has been feeling.
Club representatives have gone out of their way to speak highly of him in private with the media, highlighting his high level in training sessions.
Ancelotti and his team-mates have been supportive in public, too.
“Kylian has been criticised in an exaggerated way, it has been very positive how he has contributed. I see him in training and it’s scary,” Bellingham told a press conference on Tuesday.
“The penalty (miss) is not the reason we lost,” said the Englishman on Wednesday.
“Work and keep fighting and keep going, because the moment will pass,” said Ancelotti. “(A situation like this) has happened to me many times in my career, especially with strikers when they struggle to score. There is a medicine: be patient. Everyone has to support him.”
Modric, in captain mode, also offered supportive words in the mixed zone: “It’s his first year and it’s never easy — at Madrid, the first years are complicated. He has our confidence and knows how to get out of this: not to lose confidence, to work day by day.”
Vazquez assured that his team-mates will “always support him, he is a world-class player and he will prove it. The team is always there to help him”.
Ceballos also gave him a nod. “He’s not scoring the goals he wants to score, but we know better than anyone how hard he’s working,” he explained. “It’s difficult to settle at a club like Madrid, but Kylian will do it. I’m sure he will.”
(Top photo: Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)
new video loaded: 250 Years of Jane Austen, in Objects
By Jennifer Harlan, Sadie Stein, Claire Hogan, Laura Salaberry and Edward Vega
December 18, 2025
“Window seat with garden view / A perfect nook to read a book / I’m lost in my Jane Austen…” sings Kristin Chenoweth in “The Girl in 14G” — what could be more ideal? Well, perhaps showing off your literary knowledge and getting a perfect score on this week’s super-size Book Review Quiz Bowl honoring the life, work and global influence of Jane Austen, who turns 250 today. In the 12 questions below, tap or click your answers to the questions. And no matter how you do, scroll on to the end, where you’ll find links to free e-book versions of her novels — and more.
On Dec. 16, 1775, a girl was born in Steventon, England — the seventh of eight children — to a clergyman and his wife. She was an avid reader, never married and died in 1817, at the age of 41. But in just those few decades, Jane Austen changed the world.
Her novels have had an outsize influence in the centuries since her death. Not only are the books themselves beloved — as sharply observed portraits of British society, revolutionary narrative projects and deliciously satisfying romances — but the stories she created have so permeated culture that people around the world care deeply about Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, even if they’ve never actually read “Pride and Prejudice.”
With her 250th birthday this year, the Austen Industrial Complex has kicked into high gear with festivals, parades, museum exhibits, concerts and all manner of merch, ranging from the classily apt to the flamboyantly absurd. The words “Jane mania” have been used; so has “exh-Aust-ion.”
How to capture this brief life, and the blazing impact that has spread across the globe in her wake? Without further ado: a mere sampling of the wealth, wonder and weirdness Austen has brought to our lives. After all, your semiquincentennial doesn’t come around every day.
By ‘A Lady’
Austen published just four novels in her lifetime: “Sense and Sensibility” (1811), “Pride and Prejudice” (1813), “Mansfield Park” (1814) and “Emma” (1815). All of them were published anonymously, with the author credited simply as “A Lady.” (If you’re in New York, you can see this first edition for yourself at the Grolier Club through Feb. 14.)
Where the Magic Happened
Placed near a window for light, this diminutive walnut table was, according to family lore, where the author did much of her writing. It is now in the possession of the Jane Austen Society.
An Iconic Accessory
Few of Austen’s personal artifacts remain, contributing to the author’s mystique. One of them is this turquoise ring, which passed to her sister-in-law and then her niece after her death. In 2012, the ring was put up for auction and bought by the “American Idol” champion Kelly Clarkson. This caused quite a stir in England; British officials were loath to let such an important cultural artifact leave the country’s borders. Jane Austen’s House, the museum now based in the writer’s Hampshire home, launched a crowdfunding campaign to Bring the Ring Home and bought the piece from Clarkson. The real ring now lives at the museum; the singer has a replica.
Austen Onscreen
Since 1940, when Austen had a bit of a moment and Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier starred in MGM’s rather liberally reinterpreted “Pride and Prejudice,” there have been more than 20 international adaptations of Austen’s work made for film and TV (to say nothing of radio). From the sublime (Emma Thompson’s Oscar-winning “Sense and Sensibility”) to the ridiculous (the wholly gratuitous 2022 remake of “Persuasion”), the high waists, flickering firelight and double weddings continue to provide an endless stream of debate fodder — and work for a queen’s regiment of British stars.
Jane Goes X-Rated
The rumors are true: XXX Austen is a thing. “Jane Austen Kama Sutra,” “Pride and Promiscuity: The Lost Sex Scenes of Jane Austen” and enough slash fic and amateur porn to fill Bath’s Assembly Rooms are just the start. Purists may never recover.
A Lady Unmasked
Austen’s final two completed novels, “Northanger Abbey” and “Persuasion,” were published after her death. Her brother Henry, who oversaw their publication, took the opportunity to give his sister the recognition he felt she deserved, revealing the true identity of the “Lady” behind “Pride and Prejudice,” “Emma,” etc. in a biographical note. “The following pages are the production of a pen which has already contributed in no small degree to the entertainment of the public,” he wrote, extolling his sister’s imagination, good humor and love of dancing. Still, “no accumulation of fame would have induced her, had she lived, to affix her name to any productions of her pen.”
Wearable Tributes
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Jane Austen fan wants to find other Jane Austen fans, and what better way to advertise your membership in that all-inclusive club than with a bit of merch — from the subtle and classy to the gloriously obscene.
The Austen Literary Universe
On the page, there is no end to the adventures Austen and her characters have been on. There are Jane Austen mysteries, Jane Austen vampire series, Jane Austen fantasy adventures, Jane Austen Y.A. novels and, of course, Jane Austen romances, which transpose her plots to a remote Maine inn, a Greenwich Village penthouse and the Bay Area Indian American community, to name just a few. You can read about Austen-inspired zombie hunters, time-traveling hockey players, Long Island matchmakers and reality TV stars, or imagine further adventures for some of your favorite characters. (Even the obsequious Mr. Collins gets his day in the sun.)
A Botanical Homage
Created in 2017 to mark the 200th anniversary of Austen’s death, the “Jane Austen” rose is characterized by its intense orange color and light, sweet perfume. It is bushy, healthy and easy to grow.
Aunt Jane
Hoping to cement his beloved aunt’s legacy, Austen’s nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh published this biography — a rather rosy portrait based on interviews with family members — five decades after her death. The book is notable not only as the source (biased though it may be) of many of the scant facts we know about her life, but also for the watercolor portrait by James Andrews that serves as its frontispiece. Based on a sketch by Cassandra, this depiction of Jane is softer and far more winsome than the original: Whether that is due to a lack of skill on her sister’s part or overly enthusiastic artistic license on Andrews’s, this is the version of Austen most familiar to people today.
Cultural Currency
In 2017, the Bank of England released a new 10-pound note featuring Andrews’s portrait of Austen, as well as a line from “Pride and Prejudice”: “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!” Austen is the third woman — other than the queen — to be featured on British currency, and the only one currently in circulation.
In the Trenches
During World War I and World War II, British soldiers were given copies of Austen’s works. In his 1924 story “The Janeites,” Rudyard Kipling invoked the grotesque contrasts — and the strange comfort — to be found in escaping to Austen’s well-ordered world amid the horrors of trench warfare. As one character observes, “There’s no one to touch Jane when you’re in a tight place.”
Baby Janes
You’re never too young to learn to love Austen — or that one’s good opinion, once lost, may be lost forever.
The Austen Industrial Complex
Maybe you’ve not so much as seen a Jane Austen meme, let alone read one of her novels. No matter! Need a Jane Austen finger puppet? Lego? Magnetic poetry set? Lingerie? Nameplate necklace? Plush book pillow? License plate frame? Bath bomb? Socks? Dog sweater? Whiskey glass? Tarot deck? Of course you do! And you’re in luck: What a time to be alive.
Around the Globe
Austen’s novels have been translated into more than 40 languages, including Polish, Finnish, Chinese and Farsi. There are active chapters of the Jane Austen Society, her 21st-century fan club, throughout the world.
Playable Persuasions
In Austen’s era, no afternoon tea was complete without a rousing round of whist, a trick-taking card game played in two teams of two. But should you not be up on your Regency amusements, you can find plenty of contemporary puzzles and games with which to fill a few pleasant hours, whether you’re piecing together her most beloved characters or using your cunning and wiles to land your very own Mr. Darcy.
#SoJaneAusten
The wild power of the internet means that many Austen moments have taken on lives of their own, from Colin Firth’s sopping wet shirt and Matthew Macfadyen’s flexing hand to Mr. Collins’s ode to superlative spuds and Mr. Knightley’s dramatic floor flop. The memes are fun, yes, but they also speak to the universality of Austen’s writing: More than two centuries after her books were published, the characters and stories she created are as relatable as ever.
Bonnets Fit for a Bennett
For this summer’s Grand Regency Costumed Promenade in Bath, England — as well as the myriad picnics, balls, house parties, dinners, luncheons, teas and fetes that marked the anniversary — seamstresses, milliners, mantua makers and costume warehouses did a brisk business, attiring the faithful in authentic Regency finery. And that’s a commitment: A bespoke, historically accurate bonnet can easily run to hundreds of dollars.
Most Ardently, Jane
Austen was prolific correspondent, believed to have written thousands of letters in her lifetime, many to her sister, Cassandra. But in an act that has frustrated biographers for centuries, upon Jane’s death, Cassandra protected her sister’s privacy — and reputation? — by burning almost all of them, leaving only about 160 intact, many heavily redacted. But what survives is filled with pithy one-liners. To wit: “I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.”
Stage and Sensibility
Austen’s works have been adapted numerous times for the stage. Some plays (and musicals) hew closely to the original text, while others — such as Emily Breeze’s comedic riff on “Pride and Prejudice,” “Are the Bennet Girls OK?”, which is running at New York City’s West End Theater through Dec. 21 — use creative license to explore ideas of gender, romance and rage through a contemporary lens.
Austen 101
Austen remains a reliable fount of academic scholarship; recent conference papers have focused on the author’s enduring global reach, the work’s relationship to modern intersectionality, digital humanities and “Jane Austen on the Cheap.” And as one professor told our colleague Sarah Lyall of the Austen amateur scholarship hive, “Woe betide the academic who doesn’t take them seriously.”
W.W.J.D.
When facing problems — of etiquette, romance, domestic or professional turmoil — sometimes the only thing to do is ask: What would Jane do?
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