Kylian Mbappé: replaced at half-time, new tensions with Luis Enrique

Friday March 1, during the PSG-Monaco match, Luis Enrique chose to bring Kylian Mbappé off at half-time. A decision which confirms the tense relationship since the attacker announced his departure.

“Sooner or later we will have to get used to playing without Kylian,” said Luis Enrique, the Paris Saint-Germain coach when asked by the newspaper l'Équipe about his decision to bring the French ball star out midway through -time Friday March 1 during the PSG-Monaco match.

The day before the match, during the pre-match press conference, Luis Enrique suggested that PSG will be even better without Kylian Mbappé next season. So, the replacement of number 7, the subject of a decision by Luis Enrique and not due to injury (even if the attacker had taken a slight blow), fueled the idea that there would be a disagreement between the two since the first announced his departure, at the end of his contract, to join Real Madrid. Especially since the leader of the Blues had already been replaced in the 65th minute against Rennes (1-1) last Sunday. "There is no problem. It's just about handling a situation in the way that I think is best for the team," the coach denied.

Relations seem less fluid between the two and the situation has caused a lot of reaction, particularly on the Spanish side, where the arrival of the firm attacker is expected. The sports daily Diaro AS headlined "Luis Enrique 'sanctions' Mbappé and takes him out at half-time" on its front page, reports RMC Sport. Then, in the article devoted to the PSG-Monaco meeting, the Spanish newspaper did not fail to point out that Mbappé did not watch the end of the match with his teammates, as "an unspoken rule" requires. "The cameras filmed Mbappé smiling and chatting on the phone, as if the match was not going to resume. Then he signed autographs and we saw him in the stands with his mother, far from the serious image that a club wants to see its players in the middle of a match", underlines RMC Sport.

This new episode of the Mbappé soap opera comes three days before a decisive match for the rest of PSG's season, the round of 16 second leg of the Champions League on the pitch of Real Sociedad. The French champion club won 2-0 in the first leg, after a first goal from... Kylian Mbappé.