At the Parc des Princes,
As in the first leg a week earlier, PSG could not do better than a draw on Tuesday evening against the Portuguese from Benfica. The club can at least be reassured by saying that the evening was rather calm around Mbappé, after the announcement by the Spanish press of his desire to leave prematurely.
No turmoil after the Mbappé tsunami. PLS drama lovers. While we had imagined a thousand disaster scenarios after the explosion provoked on Tuesday by the announcement by the Spanish media Marca of Kylian Mbappé’s desire to get away from Paris in January, the evening was the opposite of the ambient boxon. Present with his teammates during the warm-up, Mbappé appeared cool as a cucumber as they say in the land of King Charles III.
But what we expected above all was the reaction of the Park towards his prince, five months after having given him a taste of the moment of the announcement of his extension, during the announcement of the players by the speaker. We could have feared a bronca from the devil, it was not. The name of Mbappe was even chanted and warmly applauded. A little earlier in the evening, Galtier had kicked into touch when Canal + asked him about the new soap opera and Luis Campos came to clear the field, ensuring that he had never heard the kid from Bondy claiming any departure.
Mbappé in history, despite everything. It therefore remained to be seen the reaction of the man on the ground. Again, RAS or almost. Well in leg despite his position at the fore – what is now called a pivot position it seems – Mbappé was the most prominent (or the least bad, it depends) of the Parisians in the first period. A few well-thought-out technical gestures, two or three dazzling accelerations on the left side and a converted and warmly celebrated penalty, arms crossed and banana in his mouth, that’s it for the copy of the most scrutinized man on the planet football since the bombinette dropped by mark. The height of LOL, this goal makes Mbappé the top scorer in the history of PSG in Champions League ahead of Matador Edinson Cavani (31 vs 30). Football is teasing.
Paris stutters again. Ultimately, Christophe Galtier will be able to thank his striker who, by turning all the spotlights on him on Tuesday evening, put the fact that PSG lost their modjo after a crispy-sexy start to the season full of promises in the background. Against Lisbon, the Reds and Blues once again stuttered their socceras in front of Brest, Haifa, Nice, Benfica on the way out and Reims last Saturday, which is still starting to show a certain trend. No movements, zero fluidity, no complicity between the players and seven unfortunate shots in 90 minutes, we are far from the account for a team of this caliber.
On arrival, the Parisians were punished on returning from the locker room by conceding a penalty transformed by João Mario (1-1, 62nd). Note that if this poor Sarabia (established in the absence of Messi, injured) was more transparent than a plastic film, it is not forbidden either for Galtier to try to influence the course of the match with a little coaching. Fortunately for Paris, the defeat of the ghost of Juve on the ground of Haifa (0-2) should allow his team, still leader of group H, to qualify without forcing for the knockout stages. It’s always taken.