Breather for super star Kylian Mbappé (24)!
On New Year’s Day, Paris St. Germain suffered a 3-1 defeat in northern France in their top game against second-placed RC Lens. The series of 32 games without bankruptcy: fizzled out.
What was it? Are the stars around Mbappé and Co. just too tired after the World Cup and the seamless transition to the league?
In any case, Mbappé, who played in all seven games up to the final at the World Cup in Qatar and played six of seven games over the full season, is getting a one-week break to catch his breath, according to the French newspaper “L’Equipe”. The same applies to full-back Achraf Hakimi (24), who surprisingly made it into the semi-finals at the World Cup with his Moroccans.
However, the timing of the break is interesting: Because exactly when world champion and superstar Lionel Messi (35) returns after his World Cup vacation on Tuesday, both stars should get their well-deserved break.
“Kylian and Achraf have a few days off. The plan was to take part in the two games (against Strasbourg (2-1) and Lens, editor’s note) and then recover,” said coach Christophe Galtier (56) to the French media.
PSG loses to Lens
Insane chopping template beats Mbappé
Source: DAZN
So does PSG give Mbappé a break before Messi’s comeback?
The fact is: The Parisian fans love their compatriot and absolute top star Kylian Mbappé. This is not only due to the common love for France, but also to the mega achievements of the just 24-year-old.
This season alone, the striker has scored 20 times in 22 games in all competitions, and reached the final in Doha with France mainly because of his five goals. There, despite three more goals and a sunk penalty, he lost to Argentina with club-mate Messi 5-7 after penalties.
That’s one of the reasons why the enthusiastic Parisian fans welcomed their absolute favorite with numerous declarations of love: A huge banner was put up for the striker in the first division game at home against Strasbourg on December 28th. revealed and wrote a song about it.
Will world champion Messi be received with similar affection? Will the ex-Barça star (in Paris since 2021) also have his own poster, chants or will a song be dedicated to him? Or is the world champion’s greeting more sober and reserved?
In any case, the Ultras’ piquant poster read: “Kylian, the future is yours. Top scorer of the World Cup, a purely Parisian product. You are the champion.”
Could be understood as a provocation to Messi, who is known to be not a “Parisian product” but the real (World Cup) champion…
