Mbappé sends wake-up call to PSG’s Champions League rivals،
Kylian Mbappé may be on his way out of the French capital, but while he is still in Paris Saint-Germain's starting XI, the team remains dangerous.
The World Cup winner showed why on Tuesday, scoring two excellent goals in a 2-1 win over Real Sociedad that took PSG back to the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in three seasons .
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“We knew straight away that we couldn’t sleep,” Mbappé said after the match. “If they had opened the score, they would have continued with the support of their fans. We had to dampen their hopes from the start.
“That’s what we did and we’re very happy to be back in the quarter-finals.”
PSG moved 4-1 ahead on aggregate, with Mbappe also scoring one of the goals in the 2-0 first-leg win in Paris three weeks ago. ESPN reported that Mbappé has already told PSG that he will not stay with the club after this season, with a move to Real Madrid looking almost certain.
Despite spending huge amounts to try to win the Champions League for the first time, PSG had been eliminated from the round of 16 five times in the last seven seasons, including the last two. They reached the semi-finals in 2021 and were runners-up in 2020.
“We wanted to qualify, but we also wanted to win,” Mbappé said. “We had a clear game plan and we managed to score early. We didn't have too much pressure, just a little towards the end.”
Despite his exploits against Sociedad, Mbappé had failed to score in his last two appearances, two draws against Rennes and AS Monaco, and was substituted in both of those matches – a decision by Luis Enrique which, according to sources from ESPN, didn't work. well with his star player.
But Mbappé played until the final whistle on Tuesday and reiterated after the match that there were no problems between the PSG coach and himself.
“There is no problem with him even if people think there is a problem,” Mbappé said. “I have problems, but coach is not one of them.”
Luis Enrique put it even more succinctly: “I have no problem with any player.”
“He can score 50 goals and give 25 assists with any coach,” added the PSG coach. “For me he is the best player in the world in the final third, unstoppable. Today he also showed that he can keep the ball when the game situation demands it and then attack up the pitch.”
With his two goals against Sociedad, Mbappé became the second youngest player to reach 45 Champions League goals in the group stage and round of 16 at 25 years and 76 days old. Lionel Messi reached this mark at 24 years and 257 days, and Mbappé now has 46.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.
