As Kylian Mbappé’s future in the French capital hangs in the balance, his presence in Paris Saint-Germain’s starting lineup continues to pose a threat to their opponents.
The World Cup champion demonstrated his prowess on Tuesday by netting two impressive goals in PSG’s 2-1 victory against Real Sociedad. This win marks PSG’s return to the Champions League quarter finals after a three-season hiatus.
“We knew right away that we couldn’t go to sleep,” Mbappé said after the match. “If they had opened the scoring, they would have pushed on with their fans’ backing. We had to dampen their hopes early on.
“That’s what we did, and we’re very happy to be back in the quarterfinals.”
PSG secured their spot in the next round with a 4-1 total score, with Mbappé also contributing to the goals in their 2-0 victory in the first leg in Paris three weeks ago. According to ESPN, Mbappé has informed PSG that he’ll be leaving the club after this season, with a transfer to Real Madrid appearing highly likely.
Despite spending a lot of money to win the Champions League, PSG hasn’t had much luck. They got knocked out in the last 16 five times in the past seven seasons, including the last two. They reached the semifinals in 2021 and were the runners-up in 2020.
Even though Mbappé performed exceptionally well against Sociedad, he hadn’t scored in his two previous games, which ended in draws against Rennes and AS Monaco. Moreover, he was substituted in both matches, a decision that reportedly upset him, according to sources from ESPN.
However, Mbappé stayed on the field until the end of Tuesday’s game, and after the game, he emphasized that there were no problems between him and the PSG coach.
“There is no problem with him even if people think there is a problem,” Mbappé said. “I have problems, but the coach is not one of them.”
Luis Enrique put it even more concisely: “I don’t have any problem with any player.”
“He can score 50 goals and give 25 assists with any coach,” the PSG coach added. “For me he is the best player in the world in the final third, unstoppable. Today he also showed he can hold the ball when the game situation requires it and then attack the open field.”
Mbappé’s two goals against Sociedad earned him the title of the second-youngest player to score 45 goals in the Champions League, combining both group stage and knockout matches, at the age of 25 years and 76 days. Lionel Messi achieved this milestone, being the youngest, at 24 years and 257 days. Currently, Mbappé has scored a total of 46 goals in the Champions League.