Paris (AFP)
Paris Saint-Germain, the “leader” and “title holder”, fell into the trap of a second draw in a row, and came against its host Monaco, 0-0, at the “Louis II” stadium in the emirate, at the opening of the twenty-fourth stage, of the French Football Championship, in a match played. In which his international striker and top scorer, Kylian Mbappé, only played one game.
The Spanish coach of Saint-Germain, Luis Enrique, started the star Mbappé against his former team, which he left in 2017 to move to the capital club, and he carried the captain’s armband in the absence of the injured Brazilian international Marquinhos, after he removed him in the 65th minute of the match against Rennes in the last stage, when his team was defeated. 0-1.
Mbappe, who will leave the capital club at the end of the season, played alongside his replacement in the previous match, the Portuguese international Gonçalo Ramos, who scored the equalizer against Rennes 1-1, and the Spaniard Marco Asensio, while internationals Ousmane Dembélé and Bradley Barkola sat on the bench.
Enrique removed his star Mbappe at half-time and replaced him with international Randall Kolo Mwani, while his Moroccan international “friend” Achraf Hakimi carried the captain’s armband.
Mbappe fell for a few minutes on the field in the 27th minute, following a struggle over the ball with Chilean defender Guillermo Maripan, as he grabbed his right leg. When he left the locker room before the second half, he went to the stands and sat next to his mother.
Saint-Germain had escaped a loss at home to Rennes, when they waited for stoppage time to equalize from a Ramouche penalty kick.
The situation was not better, as the capital team suffered against its host, and had it not been for the brilliance of its giant Italian international goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, who saved it from several goals, especially in the first half, it would have been defeated by at least one goal.
The second draw in a row came for the capital team, four days before its visit to the Spanish city of San Sebastian to face Real Sociedad in the second leg of the Champions League final.
Saint-Germain strengthened its position in the lead with 55 points, 12 points ahead of its direct competitor, Brest, which hosts Le Havre on Sunday at the end of the stage, while Monaco strengthened its position in third place with 42 points.
#SaintGermain. #Trap