At the Parc des Princes,
Bad times for the star scorers of European football. One day after the wreck of Erling Haaland, lost somewhere in Antonio Rudiger’s pocket, Kylian Mbappé took the same path as his rival against a solid Barça like Araujo. The Parisian’s figures are a headache, and not in a good way: 13 lost balls, no shots on target out of three attempts and only 44 balls hit in total. It’s an understatement to say that the French striker was discreet on Wednesday. And to top it off, he ended his evening with a bad choice in stoppage time by preferring the shot (blocked) to the shift to the left of the area, where Barcola was desperately alone.
Less than ghostly, it was above all too intermittent. His start is interesting, like that of his teammates. But after two or three lost face-to-face matches without much imagination – the classic I fix + outside hook to eliminate – Mbappé ended up giving up. An abdication translated by worrying body language in the last ten minutes of the first period, where he did not make the effort to call the ball deep in counter situations that were nevertheless obvious. He then knew how to ride the momentum of the two goals from Dembélé and Vitinha, to bring power and percussion to his shots, before disappearing once again and showing up again in the final moments.
Marquinhos defends Mbappé
Beyond the worrying dynamic, Mbappé’s disappointment lies in the collapse of the myth of the providential man during major Champions League events. Against Real Sociedad, he knew how to shut mouths. Barça’s first act is rather intended to open them up, especially since the striker had promised “as usual” to “not hide”. Luis Enrique, not very talkative when evaluating the performance of his best player, refused to throw him to the crocodiles. “I don’t want to talk about a player individually,” the Spaniard said at a press conference. I prefer to talk about my work, the coach is responsible for the result, we don’t have to talk about a particular player. I’m the only one who sees all the training, that’s why I have the job, I’m the coach, and I thought that what I chose to start was the best solution to win this match. »
Ditto for Marquinhos, interviewed in the mixed zone. “I’m not here to judge my teammates. We can talk about it in the locker room. If he was less precise this evening, it may be because the ball did not arrive at the right time, at the right timing. I don’t like to personally analyze a performance. I think the team can do a lot better. If the team is better, the individuals will do better afterwards. »
Luis Enrique’s management in question?
Should we see this drop in performance as a reflection of a progressive demobilization, a consequence of his change in status in the eyes of Luis Enrique? Since the announcement of his departure internally, he has become just another player in the Parisian squad. Sometimes replacing, sometimes replaced, Kylian Mbappé seems to be struggling with his hierarchical regression: the words that we could guess on his lips during the Classic and his tense discussion with his coach at the end of the match against Clermont bear witness to this.
For his part, the Asturian coach must ask himself the question of his management. Certainly, preparing for next year by giving playing time to those who will make 2024-25 is a respectable idea on paper. But does it remain relevant if it slowly extinguishes the morale of the team’s star? But let’s not bury the beast. There are 90 minutes left, and we refuse to believe that KM7’s Parisian adventure could end without one last splash.