Kylian Mbappé’s potential departure from Paris suggests a significant transition for the French capital’s football landscape. However, as long as he continues to grace the starting lineup of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), the team retains its formidable edge.
In a recent match against Real Sociedad, Mbappé, a World Cup champion, exemplified his prowess by netting two exceptional goals. This remarkable performance secured a crucial 2-1 victory for PSG, propelling them into the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time in three seasons.
“We knew right away that we couldn’t go to sleep,” Mbappé said after the match. “If they had opened the scoring, they would have pushed on with their fans’ backing. We had to dampen their hopes early on.
“That’s what we did, and we’re very happy to be back in the quarterfinals.”
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) secured advancement to the next stage of the competition with a 4-1 aggregate victory. Kylian Mbappé contributed to this success, having scored one of the goals in the 2-0 triumph during the initial fixture held in Paris three weeks prior. According to reports from ESPN, Mbappé has communicated his intention to depart PSG at the conclusion of the current season, with a transfer to Real Madrid appearing highly probable.
Despite substantial financial investments aimed at clinching their inaugural UEFA Champions League title, PSG has faced disappointment in recent years, exiting the competition at the round of 16 stage on five occasions within the past seven seasons, including the past two consecutive years. Notably, they reached the semifinals in 2021 and were finalists in 2020.
“We wanted to qualify, but we also wanted to win,” Mbappé said. “We had a game plan that was clear, and we managed to score early. We didn’t come under too much pressure, just a little at the end.”
In contrast to his commendable performance against Sociedad, Kylian Mbappé had failed to score in his preceding two matches, which resulted in draws against Rennes and AS Monaco. Moreover, he was substituted in both encounters, a decision attributed to Luis Enrique, a move that reportedly unsettled the prominent player according to sources cited by ESPN.
However, on Tuesday, Mbappé persevered until the conclusion of the match and subsequently affirmed post-game that there existed no discord between himself and the PSG coach.
“There is no problem with him even if people think there is a problem,” Mbappé said. “I have problems, but the coach is not one of them.”
Luis Enrique put it even more succinctly: “I don’t have any problem with any player.”
“He can score 50 goals and give 25 assists with any coach,” the PSG coach added. “For me he is the best player in the world in the final third, unstoppable. Today he also showed he can hold the ball when the game situation required it and then attack the open field.”
Mbappé’s feat of netting two goals against Sociedad elevated him to the status of the second-youngest player in Champions League history to amass 45 goals across both group stage and knockout fixtures, achieving this milestone at the age of 25 years and 76 days. Notably, Lionel Messi had previously attained this benchmark at the age of 24 years and 257 days. With his recent performance, Mbappé has now surpassed this record, amassing a total of 46 goals in the prestigious tournament.