Things are anything but great for superstar Kylian Mbappe and Paris.
Photo: imago/Julien Mattia
It was a day before Qatar’s national holiday on December 18th when Nasser Al-Khelaifi couldn’t stop gushing last year. The President of Paris St. Germain was of course at the World Cup in his home country at the time when he expressed his very personal anticipation of the dream final. »I am proud to have two players, the two best players in the world, playing the final in my country. That’s the best scenario. I can hardly wait,” piped one of the most influential Qataris, who also hoped that the showdown between Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi would give his club the greatest worldwide appeal.
Everything was spruced up in his emirate: the final stadium, the bombastic Lusail bowl in the north of Doha, shone day and night, but the real attraction was the two superstars employed by Paris, who exceeded all expectations right up to the last penalty in a spectacular final. The future of PSG shimmered as golden as the temple of jewelry in which France and Argentina had enchanted the world.
What Al-Khelaifi didn’t take into account, however, is that even Mbappé and Messi are not machines that can kick brilliantly at the push of a button. As soon as they returned to the European winter, the gray everyday life caught up with them both. Julian Nagelsmann put in a tactical masterpiece as coach of FC Bayern in mid-February when the French favorites lost their round of 16 first leg 0-1 at home. At the beginning of March, the end was sealed after a 0-2 loss in Munich. The end of an unsuccessful era under the Eiffel Tower was inevitable because the trident had to fall apart. Messi went to the USA, Brazil’s superstar Neymar to Saudi Arabia.
Mbappé at least resisted the temptations of the desert. However, he may not yet know exactly what will happen next summer for the 24-year-old. A lot could depend on the last Champions League group game at Borussia Dortmund this Wednesday. Because Mbappé and colleagues stand with their backs to the “Yellow Wall”, Borussia’s infamous fan stand. They can only go through with a win; if they draw, their newly rich rivals Newcastle United could overtake AC Milan with a home win. The constellation is treacherous. And almost embarrassing for the PSG president. The well-connected mastermind now has an important voice in global football via the executive committee of Europe’s umbrella organization Uefa.
It is not without a certain piquancy that this rarely balanced ensemble only once had half a hand on the pot under current Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel. As is well known, the Frenchman Kingsley Coman from FC Bayern had something against it in the final in the Corona summer of 2020. PSG is now relying on such players in order to benefit from the abundance of talent in the country (and club). The commitments of Ousmane Dembélé, who was suspended against BVB, and Randal Kolo Muani, who was released from Eintracht Frankfurt, were also intended to strengthen the home fans’ identification with the club.
With Bradley Barcola, the capital club has secured another exciting compatriot. And in the past, even a top talent like Warren Zaire-Emery, who was only 17 years old, might not have received so many playing shares. But things aren’t going well with the increased domestic influence, which is perhaps what annoys the ambitious coach Luis Enrique the most. Sure, the champions are leading the French Ligue 1 again, but the final settlement will be through the Champions League.
Despite their talent, the Spaniard’s team lacks the dominance and authority of a title contender. Although the team in front of the Italian star goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma no longer seemed as haphazard as it did under Enrique’s predecessor Christophe Galtier, and the team spirit is also said to have changed for the better, but automatism is not yet effective. Enrique in particular cannot afford a defeat at Westphalia.
Since the Qatari state fund “Qatar Sports Investment” got involved in 2011, the club has never been stuck in the preliminary round. Overwintering is the least the owners expect for their opulent subsidies – we’re talking about four billion euros over the course of twelve years – on this stage. Nasser Al-Khelaifi has long since stopped talking about the project of making PSG number one in the world.
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