Madrid is much more at stake today than going to the quarterfinals of the Champions League today. Mbappé’s future may also depend, to a large or small extent, on how the match unfolds and the circumstances surrounding it. Quite an emotional test for Mbappé, who visits what will almost certainly be his new home from next season… unless the pressure that PSG is exerting to renew him ends up having an effect.
The public at the Bernabéu, the Real Madrid fans, will play a very important role. It will be a golden opportunity to show affection for a player who should become the white club’s franchise footballer for the next decade. Banners of personal support (never to PSG) are expected in the stands of the Bernabéu, and a very positive reaction, too, when the stadium’s public address system pronounces Mbappé’s name and his number seven. That will be before the game.
That role that the stands can play with respect to the star has been the subject of debate in recent hours. AND modric and Ancelotti they spoke about it. “I don’t know, I can’t get into what the public is going to do. I only ask Real Madrid to support us, to the death. What he does on ‘the other side’, I don’t know”, said the Croatian closing the possibility of any show of affection with the rival’s still star, although later and speaking of the future, he added: “You always want to play with great players and he is. Of course I’d like to play with him, but today he’s a PSG player and we’ll see what happens in the future. It’s difficult to talk about other players who aren’t here, because other clubs can get angry… But of course we’d like to play with him”. Ancelotti, on the other hand, was more open about the possibility that the Bernabéu would have an affectionate gesture with the French star: “The history of the Bernabéu reflects that great players have always been applauded. Of course I would understand.”
More risk factors…
The other aspect related to the match that can influence Mbappé’s future is the result itself. A victory for Real Madrid would help increase Mbappé’s frustration at PSG in the face of winning the Champions League and, therefore, having a chance of winning the Ballon d’Or (it is, without a doubt, together with the World Cup and the European Championship, the best showcase) . And that would make it easier for him to go ahead with the decision he has made to sign for Madrid. This is his fifth season at PSG and he has not been able to lift ‘the orejona’ despite the pharaonic projects built in Paris with oil money. In his first two seasons he did not get past the round of 16, in the third he was runner-up and in the fourth, he stayed in the semis.
Conversely, a victory for PSG could prove Leonardo right in his attempt to make him see that he must stay a couple more seasons to be crowned in his country before going abroad. At the very least, it would give PSG the possibility that Mbappé decides to wait and see how far the French team goes in the competition. The crossover of the round of 16 that determined the draw between Real Madrid and PSG left the future of Mbappé, who was so inclined towards the white entity, up in the air… And today important lines are written to know the final outcome of the soap opera.
#Emotional #test #Mbappé