Kylian Mbappe on Tuesday said that he had “no problem” with Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique after scoring a brace in his side’s win over Real Sociedad in the round-of-16 of the UEFA Champions League.
Wearing the captain’s armband, Mbappe opened the scoring a quarter of an hour into the second leg in San Sebastian and struck again early in the second half.
PSG won the game 2-1 to secure a 4-1 aggregate victory and a place in the quarter-finals for the first time since 2020-2021.
Photo: AP
“It’s fine. There is no problem with him, even if people might think there is a problem. I do have problems, but the coach is not one,” Mbappe told broadcaster Canal Plus when asked about his relationship with Luis Enrique.
Mbappe had either started on the bench or been substituted in each of PSG’s previous three Ligue 1 games since he informed the club he would be leaving when his contract expires at the end of the season.
He was replaced at halftime in Friday’s 0-0 draw at former club AS Monaco, but he played the whole 90 minutes in San Sebastian and took his goals tally for the season to 34 in 34 matches.
“We are very, very pleased to be in the quarter-finals,” said Mbappe, who flourished in an attacking setup which allowed him to come in from his favored left flank, with Bradley Barcola on the right and Ousmane Dembele through the middle.
“I don’t have any message in particular. I just always want to play in the Champions League,” he said. “It is a very important competition. I try to always perform. Sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn’t, but I will never be a player who hides.”
Runners-up in 2019-2020, PSG have never won the Champions League and had gone out in the round-of-16 in five of the past seven seasons.
“We are satisfied and happy. We played really well and stopped La Real from getting back into the tie,” Luis Enrique said.
Of Mbappe, he added: “There is no need to manage Mbappe. He manages himself.”
“Normally he has freedom, but today he was fixed on the left wing from where we wanted him to be in a good position in the final third, because when you leave him in on goal he is lethal,” Enrique said.
PSG will now hope for a favorable draw in the last eight, both legs of which are to take place next month.
“We have no pressure. We have not won the Champions League,” added the former Barcelona coach, who named a young starting lineup with an average age younger than 24. “Our team is clearly improving and we will see how far we can go.”
“We are not putting extra pressure on the team. We are one of the youngest teams and this objective needs to be something to be excited about rather than a weight for us,” he said.
“It has to be a source of motivation and from there we will try to compete against whoever we play,” he added.
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