All eyes were on him – and Kylian Mbappé delivered. After the final whistle, the PSG striker explained his winning goal – and spoke out again about his future.
“He’s an alien,” PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma said of his teammate. “And yes, him again”, headlined “L’Equipe” on Wednesday. The parallels are obvious. On Friday, Kylian Mbappé flicked the ball into the far corner for the 1-0 winner in the 93rd minute, thus deciding the top match in Ligue 1, and four days later he did the same again. In the last 16 of the Champions League, against Real Madrid. In the 94th minute.
PSG and late winning goals, it’s been an almost uncanny love affair this season. For the fourth time now, the capital club won by a goal in injury time, and for the sixth time by a goal after the 86th minute. But the headlines after the end of the game naturally belonged to the one they had belonged to before the game started.
“Then I am master of my actions”: Mbappé declares winning goal
“Of course everyone was looking at me, maybe more than usual,” Mbappé admitted in the “L’Equipe” interview after the final whistle. Quite apart from his transfer rumours, Parisian hopes were also pinned on the 23-year-old, with the other two thirds of MNM’s trio not in top form or not yet in top form.
“That’s the lot of great attackers, the advantage of being a striker. You can be decisive at any time,” Mbappé commented on his late winning goal. “I had the advantage of getting into the penalty area quickly,” he explained. “Then I am master of my action. They (the defenders) were in reverse and I knew what I was going to do. “
The split-second decisiveness shown by the 2018 world champion, on the other hand, does not seem to be there when it comes to a more long-term issue. “I haven’t decided yet,” he told “Canal+” about his future. “I am a PSG player and I am very happy.”
PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi had already been combative on the personnel issue before kick-off – stressing its impact on the relationship with their round of 16 opponents: “I’m quite honest, we have almost no relationship with Real Madrid anymore. “
