Valles reveals how he stopped Mbappé from the penalty spot: "I was just talking to him before the shot"

At the La Cartuja stadium in Seville, Real Madrid suffered their first real setback of the season, losing 1-0 to Real Betis. But after the Andalusian advantage scored by Troy Parrott in the 81st minute, the Blancos found themselves in extra time with the maximum chance of equalizing: a penalty. Kylian Mbappé, a specialist with an almost perfect conversion rate, appeared on the penalty spot, but this time he fell into the "trap" of Alvaro Valles, the Betis goalkeeper, who saved his shot and then caused a furious confrontation on the pitch. After the match, he revealed how he had managed it: "I talked to him a lot before the penalty, I distracted him just enough."

Valle's psychological trap towards Mbappé, then a scream in his face

As was clearly shown by the television footage and the videos circulating on social media, before Mbappé struck, Betis goalkeeper Alvaro Valles staged a real psychological battle with the French striker and won it. This influence continued in all the moments before the penalty, which later proved decisive for Betis' victory, moving erratically in the goal and delaying the shot, annoying Mbappé. The result was perfect: an elastic reception of the low and not quite pleasant shot, stretching to his left and clearing the ball.

Finally, the scream in Mbappé's face: engulfed in the fury of the competition, as soon as the ball left the area, Vallés immediately stood up and released all the tension with a liberating scream just a few centimeters from Mbappé's face, bordering on a physical fight, as the Frenchman pushed him, almost not believing what had happened.

Alvaro Vallés reveals the anti-Mbappé "trick": "I distracted him just enough"

After the match, on Spanish television, the Betis goalkeeper explained his psychological tactics in detail, acknowledging the winning strategy, but then downplaying the fiery tone of his reaction: "I knew that Kylian is almost infallible from the penalty spot if you let him think. I tried to make him nervous, I distracted him before the shot by moving over the line and making a little show to take away his confidence. When a champion like that takes a penalty in the 95th minute, the only option you have is to get into his head and that was enough."

Regarding the heated final confrontation, Vallés then poured water on the fire: "The scream in the face? It was just the adrenaline of the moment, a pure emotion after saving the result in the 95th minute against the strongest team in the world. No disrespect to Mbappé, who remains an extraordinary footballer. On the field you live with impulse, when the match ends you shake hands".

Who is Alvaro Vallés: Man of the Match of Betis-Real

Alvaro Vallés is not a name that came out of nowhere: returned to Real Betis in the summer of 2025, after a season as a reserve, he has returned to be decisive in the starting rotation and even against Real Madrid, he was not satisfied with just his brilliance on the penalty spot: official statistics show that he made 5 decisive saves during the 90 minutes, which not coincidentally also earned him the Man of the Match award.

Mbappé, victim of the field factor and "trash talking"

The Seville episode brought back to the center of the debate the importance of the psychological factor, which plays a very large role from the penalty spot, even for a superstar accustomed to managing world pressure like Mbappé, who has a penalty conversion rate of around 80%. The impact of the opponent's aggressiveness, time wasting and provocations changed the perception of the moment, burdening him with great, decisive responsibilities, confirming that, in addition to technique, psychological "tricks" remain a deadly weapon even in football at the highest levels.