Replaced at half-time during the PSG-Monaco match, Kylian Mbappé asked his coach Luis Enrique for explanations during a one-on-one meeting this Saturday, March 2.
We had to put our cards on the table. Kylian Mbappé and Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique spoke during a one-on-one meeting this Saturday March 2 morning, reveals RMC Sport. For several matches, the PSG star striker has been replaced at half-time by decision of the Spanish coach. Incomprehension, number 7 asked for explanations. The development would have taken place in a calm climate, says the site.
Luis Enrique would estimate that since the match against Brest in the Coupe de France, during which Kylian Mbappé received a blow to the left ankle, the player is no longer quite the same. “Sooner or later we will have to get used to playing without Kylian”, had also justified Luis Enrique, the coach of Paris Saint-Germain questioned by the newspaper the Teamon his decision to bring out the French ball star at half-time on Friday March 1 during the PSG-Monaco match.
Escalating tensions
The day before the PSG-Monaco match, during the pre-match press conference on Thursday February 29, Luis Enrique suggested that PSG will be even better without Kylian Mbappé next season. So, the replacement of number 7, the subject of a decision by Luis Enrique and not due to injury (even if the attacker had taken a slight blow), fueled the idea that there would be a disagreement between the two since the first announced his departure, at the end of his contract, to join Real Madrid. Especially since the leader of the Blues had already been replaced in the 65th minute against Rennes (1-1) last Sunday. “There is no problem. It’s just about handling a situation in the way that I think is best for the team,” the coach denied.
The Spanish press surprised by the exit of Kylian Mbappé
Relations seem less fluid between the two and the situation has caused a lot of reaction, particularly on the Spanish side, where the arrival of the firm attacker is expected. The sports daily Diaro AS, headlined “Luis Enrique ‘sanctions’ Mbappé and makes him leave at half-time” on its front page, reports RMC Sport. Then, in the article devoted to the PSG-Monaco meeting, the Spanish newspaper did not fail to point out that Mbappé did not watch the end of the match with his teammates, as “an unspoken rule” requires. “The cameras filmed Mbappé smiling and chatting on the phone, as if the match was not going to resume. Then he signed autographs and we saw him in the stands with his mother, far from the serious image that a club wants to see its players in the middle of a match”, underlines RMC Sport.
This new episode of the Mbappé soap opera comes three days before a decisive match for the rest of PSG’s season, the round of 16 second leg of the Champions League on the pitch of Real Sociedad. The French champion club won 2-0 in the first leg, after a first goal from… Kylian Mbappé.