The same song every year…
That’s what the supporters and those in charge of Paris Saint-Germain are thinking right now after Kylian Mbappé injured his left thigh at the level of his biceps in the 3-1 win in Montpellier in Ligue 1 on Wednesday evening. (DATA: Ligue 1 results and fixture list)
“Actually, Kylian is almost never injured and now it’s happening in one of the most important phases of the season,” complained former PSG central defender Alain Roche. “It’s really bitter, especially because he’s been one of the few bright spots at PSG since the restart.”
This failure weighs particularly heavily. Also because Neymar has not yet been able to recover from his ankle injury from the World Cup opening game with Brazil against Serbia. And Lionel Messi is still far from his form in Qatar.
In this respect, this failure weighs all the more heavily for coach Christophe Galtier because Mbappé should cause a lot of unrest in the Munich defense with his speed, his dribbling and his unpredictability.
“Kylian is a difference player,” said Mauricio Pochettino’s successor at the Stade de la Mosson on Wednesday night, before he knew his attacker would be unavailable for several weeks.
“In 2022 he scored 56 goals in 56 games across all competitions. He’s one of the best strikers in the world. He loves to score and break records. That spurs him on, that makes him so strong,” his coach enthused: “You don’t need to motivate him, no matter who the opponent is, he’s always focused and greedy.” (DATA: The Ligue 1 table)
A few days ago, Mbappé went down even more in Paris Saint-Germain history when he became the first PSG player ever to score a five-pack in the second round of the Coupe de France against Pays de Cassel (6th division).
He was top scorer at the World Cup, scoring three goals in the final against Argentina and converting his penalty in a shoot-out. After just two and a half days of vacation, he immediately resumed training at PSG and then took a 10-day holiday in mid-January.
Because of this program, the injury comes as no surprise to many observers. “Due to these intense exertions, it was almost to be expected that he would get it,” explained Ricardo, who wore the PSG jersey between 1991 and 1995, and added, “even if Kylian is a top professional and does everything to Avoiding injuries makes it almost impossible in football today to stay injury-free throughout the season.”
Are the capitals just outsiders against Bayern without Mbappé? Are they failing in the last 16 of the Champions League for the second time in a row?
Ahead of his first knockout game on the European stage as a coach, Galtier is under massive pressure. It’s probably also about his own future on the PSG bench against FC Bayern.
