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By leaps and bounds, Mbappé already on Ibrahimovic’s footsteps

DECRYPTION – The 22-year-old world champion is only six goals away from the Swedish star.

2022, it starts now for PSG. After a health walk in Vannes (4-0 victory) last Monday, Mauricio Pochettino’s players are getting serious this Sunday, with a trip to Lyon (8:45 p.m.), at the end of the 20th day. A shock… on paper, between an OL sick and stuck in the soft underbelly of the standings and a solid PSG leader in Ligue 1 but still far from the account in the perspective of the conquest of a first Champions League. Paris running in? Yes. But not Kylian Mbappé, triple scorer à la Rabine but above all exemplary in terms of attitude in this resumption match. And more generally since the start of the season, despite the disappointment born of a real-false transfer to Real.

Kylian Mbappé, more than ever spearhead of the club of the capital. “A shark», Said Thomas Tuchel of him when he was officiating in Paris. “He smells the slightest drop of blood and throws himself on it … He is always ready to score. He aims to always score more. This is exceptional. He behaves like this», Added the German technician. Well aware that he must share the light within this PSG All-Star, Mbappé has however become an emeritus passer since the start of the season. This is perhaps why Zlatan Ibrahimovic said a few weeks ago on TF1, that Bondy’s crack “not doing enough yet. It is too much in a comfort. He must smell the taste of blood.“And the Swedish giant to add, in the columns of the Corriere Della Serra this time “I advised Mbappé to leave PSG. He needs a more structured environment, like that of Real. But then I told the president of PSG not to sell it.Nasser Al-Khelaïfi probably did not need Ibra for that, but he did retain Mbappé.

Ibra in the viewfinder, soon Cavani?

Mauricio Pochettino should probably not regret it given the weight of the 23-year-old French international in the performance of his team. Moreover, the Argentinian technician makes his number 7 responsible like no other coach before him in Paris. And Mbappé returns it to him, advancing in giant steps towards his destiny. “I always said that I wanted to mark the history of my country“, He said in 2020, before the final (lost) of C1 against Bayern (0-1). He would not sulk his pleasure in scoring that of Paris-SG. And that’s what he does game after game. With his hat-trick in Vannes, Mbappé is 150 goals in 196 matches under the red and blue tunic. Here he is now very close to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, second highest scorer in the history of PSG with 156 goals in 181 matches, between 2012 and 2016. Unless injured, he will double the current striker of AC Milan by the end of the current season. It’s already written, planned, programmed. His last at PSG? The future will tell.

One thing is certain: Edinson Cavani’s record (200 goals in 301 matches) will not stand up for long if the former Monegasque were to extend in the weeks and months to come. So far, this is not the trend, although the leaders still believe in it. Although, Daniel Riolo seems to have balls on the subject. Affirming that Zinédine Zidane will be the coach of Paris Saint-Germain “next June at the latest», The journalist of RMC let himself go to this forecast: “I do not exclude that he directs Mbappé at PSG“. On Saturday, The Parisian suggested that everything is still possible and that no decision has been taken, either way or the other. Suspense.

In the meantime, and in a style very different from that of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mbappé will try to guide Paris to the heights by the end of the current financial year. “We were a team, today it’s not a team. They are not better“, Said Zlatan Ibrahimovic, comparing” his “PSG and that of Kylian Mbappé.

“Mbappé is a world-class player despite his age, an excellent player, but we have to defend as a team. “

Peter Bosz

Obviously, this is not because of the world champion. Without Neymar (ankle), Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria (Covid-19), all eyes will once again be on him at Groupama Stadium. “The answer is always collective. Individualities make the difference, they sometimes make matches win, but the most important is the collective», Warns Mauricio Pochettino.

«We must not speak of a player. He is a player with exceptional qualities, but there are many others. Otherwise, it would not be PSG … we will play as a team», Promises the German international of OL, Jerome Boateng. However, an anti-Mbappé plan would not be too much… Especially since the person concerned particularly likes OL: he only scored more goals against Dijon (11 goals against DFCO and 10 against Lyon)! “Mbappé is a world-class player despite his age, an excellent player, but we have to defend as a team», Confirms his Dutch coach, Peter Bosz. And to add: “At the end of the day, it’s eleven players against eleven others.“There are some that are still worth more than others… This was the case for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and for Kylian Mbappé today. While waiting for Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr to give the full measure of their talent to them in Paris. But this is another story…

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