Kick off, back pass, opening, lob, goal. All in eight seconds. All of France has agreed since Sunday evening that Kylian Mbappé has equaled the record for the fastest goal in the history of the championship against Losc. Everybody ? No. Michel Rio, former owner of the brand since an evening in 1992, resists and asks that we take a look at the photo finish, as in athletics and cycling. At the time player of the Stade Malherbe de Caen, Rio had sent a love volley in the back of the net at the reception of an opening as we do not do today. And according to him, everything went a little faster, with supporting evidence.
“I called a friend who works on video in a pro club in Brittany that I won’t name. As he has professional equipment, I asked him to take the images of the two goals. And me, I’m a little under eight seconds while Kylian, whom I love by the way, is a little above eight. If we take the images again, Mbappé is 8”06 and I’m 7”72. And besides, it shows at real speed, when my shot goes into the goal, Kylian’s ball is still six meters away. Him, when he goes deep, the ball takes a rebound. Whereas me, it’s a ball that I receive to which I restore speed. »
Two goals, two strategies
The unstoppable argument has already been confirmed by a not too bad montage easily found on the networks. A mini-victory for Rio, who nevertheless gladly shares the cake with his young heir. “I am happy to share it with Kylian, who is an exceptional player. In addition it highlights my goal to me, it’s nice. I said it while laughing at friends for a few years: if there is one who can beat my record, it is Kylian Mbappé. But I didn’t think it would happen so quickly! »
On the other hand, we must grant the Parisian goal its intentional character, where that of thirty years ago was the happy consequence of a slightly less ambitious strategy. “At the time, to start the match, the plan to put pressure on the opponent was to put a ball outside the eighteen meters between the corner post and the eighteen meters, says Michel Rio. At the time, it was fashionable. As I had both feet, once I played on the right, the other on the left. That day, I am on the left and the combination of circumstances means that the ball is deep and that I am in the right place and at the right time. “A version totally different from that of PSG, told by Christophe Galtier on the set of Prime Video. “We practiced it in training [samedi]. When it works after eight seconds, it is a great satisfaction. Congratulations to the players for having dared to try it and especially for having succeeded. »
Will fashion last?
There is indeed a common denominator to the two goals, other than their improbable speed: the fashion effect invoked by Michel Rio. Yesterday, the trend was for big chicks forward, rugby-style limit, to get a good touch in the opposing camp from the kick-off. Today, she is at millimeter combinations as we see dozens of them on free kicks, corners and touches, with the aim of slamming a premature pawn.
- December 3, 2021: Bournemouth lights the first wick against Fulham. A back pass and a triangle game later, the opposing goalkeeper picked up the ball in the back of his net.
- Champions League 2022: Real Madrid tries unsuccessfully against PSG and Manchester City.
- August 14, Sparta Rotterdam opens the scoring in the same way against Alkmaar.
- On the 20th, the day before Losc-PSG, and as unearthed by The Teamthe Northern Irish club of Cliftonville had taken up the same idea.
As a bonus, Galtier also wanted to wink at the Parisian U19s, authors of a similar goal against Salzburg in the Youth League. But he warns: “It is a goal that we will never see again. We allow ourselves to doubt it. Typically, the kind of weapon you keep warm to bring out when the time is right. Randomly, during a key Champions League match?