It was the shock of this 6th day of Ligue 1: Paris Saint-Germain opened the doors of its Parc des Princes to its sworn enemy Olympique de Marseille. A poster with an obviously historic flavor between two rival clubs who have experienced a week rich in different emotions. The Phocaeans were looking for remedies to the emerging crisis marked by the departure of Marcelino and the aborted resignation of Pablo Longoria and Javier Ribalta, while PSG wanted to continue after a good performance in the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund (2-0).
Author of 7 goals in 5 championship matches, Kylian Mbappé appears, at the start of the season, more than ever as the total leader of the Parisian attack, at a time when offensive recruits are still struggling to be as consistent as the captain of the Blues: when number 7 goes, everything goes at PSG in these first months of competition. However this evening, against OM at the Parc des Princes, Mbappé did not have the opportunity to play his role fully in the correction inflicted on the Marseille enemy (4-0). And for good reason, a nasty injury made him leave the field after half an hour of play, even leaving his team outnumbered in several sequences.
A worrying injury?
Established alongside his compatriot Randal Kolo Muani, the former Monegasque was hit in the ankle following a foul by OM’s Argentinian defender, Leonardo Balerdi, which also resulted in the free kick converted by Achraf Hakimi on the opening the score (8th). During the following minutes, Mbappé left the pitch twice to seek treatment from Parisian doctors: first to test his support (10th), then to have his ankle strapped (15th). The French genius tried everything to try to stay in the match and help his teammates in this Classic.
But in the 32nd minute, the French international definitively threw in the towel and requested a change, replaced by Portuguese striker Gonçalo Ramos: “I’m sore.”, he even said during his exit. Rare are the moments when Kylian Mbappé decides for himself to abandon his teammates and leave the pitch, especially in a match like the Classic, which has smelled of powder for several decades. While the upcoming deadlines are crucial for the Parisians in the weeks to come (Clermont, Newcastle, Rennes, Strasbourg, Milan), it will be necessary to closely monitor the physical state of the top scorer in the history of PSG. But this Sunday evening, the first signals are positive.
Paris wants to be reassuring
Asked about this at the microphone of Prime Video, Spanish coach Luis Enrique was reassuring for the moment “Kylian, it’s not a very serious problem but there is pain and it was difficult to play with. I think it was smarter to get off the field but nothing serious, it’s fine. It was a blow and ultimately he is fine,” before repeating his comments at a press conference a few minutes later “I don’t know exactly what it was, but it was a blow, he had some pain. But I think he’ll be fine. It was better not to take any risks”. Present at a press conference, French Football Weekly can confirm that the Gijon-born tactician did not seem worried.
Even Kylian Mbappé’s teammates were optimistic. “We were all sad for him but from what I could see, it didn’t seem very, very serious”, first explained Bradley Barcola, author of a fantastic performance for his first tenure. Randal Kolo Muani also provided a little more detail for having exchanged with Mbappé at the break: “It’s a little pain, he’ll get over it, don’t worry”, even said the former Frankfurt player, all smiles in the mixed zone. We will now have to wait the next few hours for a first official communication from the Capital club on this subject.
