Englishman Kylian Mbappe’s Kryptonite – C1 – Gr. F – PSG-Newcastle (1-1)

By blowing the whistle, Szymon Marciniak was keenly aware that he had dashed Newcastle’s dreams of going away with an unexpected victory after consulting VAR, which had a (lenient) penalty in favor of the Parisians. Eleven months earlier, the Polish referee had watched Kylian Mbappe’s goal and two penalties (including taking France and Argentina into the final session) a shot at the World Cup final so close that he suspected it was no Champions League. Team matchup and Nick Pope to terrorize PSG striker. This means that, in the event of a defeat, Luis Enrique’s men would have been relegated with one foot in the Europa League, even if Newcastle had won against Milan in the last match. Yes, but now, as expected, Guix is ​​not shaking, thanks to their 11-meter praline, PSG can top the group if they win in Dortmund. With this pawn, Mbappé saved PSG, but also his above-average performance until then. Not to say it was a complete failure.

4 goals in 11 matches against English clubs

Moments after the final whistle, Kylian Mbappe summed up his team’s Canal+ match perfectly: “We have to finish our actions better. We have more action for the Champions League. At the end of the day in matches like this we have to be very diligent in front of goal. We must kill. We had a lot of clear cut chances and usually we should have won the match by a bigger margin. » The Parisian captain’s use of “we” is correct because not only does he have trouble facing the cages, but the Parisian striker is clumsy and this sentence also works in the first person singular. Be it finishing, passing, dribbling or physically moved by his opposing Golgoths. Aside from the drooling on the lips, Newcastle players have always had at least two of the world champions who showed more irritation at the referee or their teammates than good gestures.

The performance is reminiscent of his World Cup semi-final against England in 2022, where he was flummoxed by the English defense in his worst – perhaps even only – worst World Cup performance. More generally, since his arrival at Paris Saint-Germain, Caix has struggled against English clubs. It was during the two meetings against Newcastle, against Manchester City in 2021 or even in the round of 16 second leg against Manchester United in 2019 that his poor performances were overshadowed by the errors of Buffon and Gehrer and the hands of Kimbembe. However, the French captain made a name for himself in the competition with AS Monaco in 2017 by riding for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. Statistically, this gives him 4 goals in 11 matches against English clubs since his arrival at PSG. This is a ratio of 0.36 goals per match. While in Paris, Mbappé averaged 0.65 goals per match in the Champions League. In comparison, its ratio is 1 against Spanish clubs.

The return of Mbappeno

Fortunately for Kylian Mbappe, his dream is to play for Real Madrid, not Arsenal or Liverpool. Otherwise, he could have turned into Gabriel Oberdon once he arrived in the Premier League. We have to believe that the English hold the key to stopping the French from shining. A miracle recipe, in which we see the ingredients: consistent two-handed grip, aggression, physicality, speed and smart fouls prevent him from going deep. We actually have to go back to Manchester City-Monaco in March 2017, when Kylian was still like this, to find traces of a successful match against Parfidius Albion’s representatives. newcomer of rock.

On the other hand, if there is one area where the English have yet to find a solution against Caix, it is the penalty spot. Rest assured, they are not the only ones, as Mbappé has been unable to play in this training for months. It’s that simple, since September 2022 the former AS Monaco striker has taken twenty penalties and missed just three. He also scored a goal against Brest last October with a deflected strike, and a goal with France against Greece last June, two minutes later… from the penalty spot. Mbappé will have to cross his fingers that Yann Sommer doesn’t sign for an English club.