Kylian Mbappe criticism branded 'incredible' by Real Madrid team-mate Aurelien Tchouameni as midfielder insists Ballon d'Or hopeful 'doesn't need advice'

Tchouameni has come to the defence of Mbappe, calling the criticism aimed at the former PSG man "incredible". The defensive midfielder further added that Mbappe, one of the frontrunners to win the 2025 Ballon d'Or, does not require anyone's advice, asserting that "he will continue to score more goals" for Real.

Mbappe is having a somewhat mixed debut season at the Santiago Bernabeu. He has experienced spirit-crushing lows, such as his performances against Barcelona, Liverpool, and Athletic Bilbao in the first half of the season. However, he seemed to have turned things around after taking time to settle into new surroundings, scoring an astonishing hat-trick against Manchester City to help Real into the last 16 of the Champions League. After that game, he went three without scoring, including the first leg against Atletico Madrid, before finding the back of the net against Rayo Vallecano last weekend.

Even though Madrid won the first leg 2-1 against Diego Simeone's side, Mbappe failed to make any real impact in the final third, drawing the ire of media both in and outside of Spain. It was revealed that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez had an encouraging chat with the 26-year-old in the dressing room, telling him that his "next match will be better", referring to Wednesday's return leg at the Metropolitano Stadium.

Addressing the press on Tuesday, Tchouameni publicly backed his French national team-mate to produce the goods for Real Madrid.

"It's incredible talking about 'difficult days' for [Mbappe]," Tchouameni said (h/t ESPN). "Because he didn't score in two games? We know that if he scores a goal or two tomorrow, everyone will be saying 'he's an incredible player.' For us professionals, the most important thing is the next game. Kylian doesn't need advice, he's scored a lot of goals and he will score a lot of goals.

"Honestly Kylian wants to win and score goals every game, so there's no extra motivation. He wants to be at his best level all the time, there's no difference."

After facing Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night, Mbappe will be keen to help Real Madrid remain in the hunt for the La Liga title when they take on Villarreal on Saturday. Los Blancos are currently level on points with Barcelona, albeit having played one more game. As for Mbappe, he has scored 18 goals in the league thus far and trails Robert Lewandowski by three goals in the race to win the Pichichi.