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Kylian Mbappe earned Real Madrid a 2-0 win over Villarreal in La Liga and dedicated his panenka directly to Brahim Diaz. Diaz captured headlines when he missed such a spotkick in the Africa Cup of Nations final against Senegal.

The 26-year-old was forced into a substantial wait when the eventual winners left the field in protest. VAR saw a penalty awarded in the 98th minute, but the delay saw Diaz unable to step up until the 114th.

It saw the former AC Milan star have an opportunity to fire Morocco to a historic penalty. The ex-Manchester City trainee stepped up and could only chip it into Edouard Mendy's arms as he attempted a panenka, as Senegal claimed victory after extra time. Diaz was left in tears and also faced accusations he'd missed on purpose.

In the aftermath, Diaz revealed his despair. He wrote: "My heart aches. I dreamed of this title thanks to all the love you've given me, every message, every show of support that made me feel I wasn't alone.

"I fought with everything I had, with my heart above all else. Yesterday I failed, and I take full responsibility and apologise from the bottom of my heart. It will be hard to recover, because this wound doesn't heal easily, but I will try.

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"Not for myself, but for everyone who believed in me and for everyone who suffered with me. I will keep going until one day I can repay all this love and be a source of pride for my Moroccan people."

Against Villarreal, Mbappe replicated Diaz's attempt with greater success and pulled him in close. “For you, for you,” he said in the ear of his team-mate before confirming to Marca following the game: “It was support for him.”

Boss Arvelo Arbeloa was full of praise for Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. "(Mbappe and Vinicius) are the best players in the world, they are players who can really unbalance teams, we try to get the ball to them as much as possible," Arbeloa told Real Madrid TV.

"They're two players who... I'm really happy to have in this state of form and above all, because of the great work they are doing.

"They are really committed to the team, they are the first who are pressing... they're giving this effort and solidarity that we need from them, so I'm very happy that their reward comes in the form of goals."

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