Lille (AFP)
Striker Kylian Mbappe will bring down the curtain on his career with Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday, when he will have the opportunity to win one last title by facing Lyon in the French Cup final.
The “Roosters” star will play his 308th and final match with the capital club, which he joined in August 2017 from Monaco in a deal worth 108 million euros, after his Spanish coach Luis Enrique chose him among the group that will play in the final.
Mbappe (25 years old) did not play the last two matches for his team that won the league title, beating Nice 2-1 on May 15 and Metz 2-0 last Sunday.
Enrique seemed to rest him for the cup final, especially after the team secured the league title, but the Spaniard previously hinted that he was not happy with his star’s request to leave the club in the second half of the season.
He said, “We will see this week who is ready and who is not ready, and who has the greatest desire (to play).”
He added, “The French Cup final is very important for us.”
Since his move to the Qatari-owned Parisian club, Mbappé has contributed greatly to success in terms of titles, at least on the local scene.
He led him to win the league title six times, and the local cup three times, and the victory over Lyon on Saturday means that he will wear a fourth medal on his neck.
But during this trophy-laden career, he missed the most important title for his club and for him personally, which is the Champions League.
Mbappe scored 42 goals in 64 matches in the prestigious European competition, but Paris was unable to lift the cup with the big ears during the seven years with his striker, nor before that since the club became Qatari-owned.
The team almost did it when it reached the Lisbon final in 2020, but lost to Bayern Munich, Germany, 0-1, in a match played behind closed doors due to the repercussions of the Corona virus pandemic.
Paris reached the semi-finals twice as well, but Mbappe was not in his best physical condition and did not participate in the return match against Manchester City, which his team lost by two unanswered goals in 2021, and he did not perform as expected of him against German Borussia Dortmund this season (Paris lost 0). -2 in total in the two matches).
Mbappe hopes to make up for this failure with Paris, in the Spanish capital, Madrid, as he is expected to move to Real Madrid, which has won a record 14 titles, and will play the final this season against Dortmund.
Mbappe’s name rose to prominence early since his first appearance with Monaco in December 2016 at the age of 16 years and 11 months. He became the youngest player to defend the emirate’s club in the league, breaking the record of the legendary Thierry Henry, before contributing to winning the title in 2017.
Today he is considered an icon in France, and he remains so as he represents his country abroad, like Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane and Henry.
But before he leaves France, he will have the opportunity to win one last title and help win the league and cup double for the first time since the 2019-2020 season.
Mbappé’s participation in the final matches of the French Cup did not always bring happiness, even if he won three of them.
He was sent off in the 2019 final when Paris lost to Rennes on penalties 6-5 after they tied 2-2 after the end of regular and extra time. He also left injured in the first half of the next edition, in which his team beat Saint-Etienne 1-0.
Unlike some matches, Mbappe presents himself strongly in important times. The cup final will be the first final match he plays since the one in which he scored three “hat-trick” goals against Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, in the final of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
But facing Lyon will not be easy, as the team that clinched its qualification to the European League, “Europa League”, after it was threatened with relegation to the second division at the beginning of the season, its results have changed significantly since the beginning of December after Pierre Sage took over the task, succeeding the Italian Fabio Grosso.
Algerian Said Benrahma, Lyon striker, said regarding Mbappe’s participation: “He is one of the best players in the world at the moment. “When he is on the field, it is complicated, but that is football.”
He continued, “You want to play against the best players in the world, and he is one of them.” “So it is always good to play against these players to compete, and show that the team is not afraid to be there.”
The final match will be held outside Paris and the surrounding area for the first time, as the Pierre Maurois Stadium in Lille, which has a capacity of 50,000 spectators, will host the awaited confrontation, in light of the preparation of the “Stade de France” stadium to host the next Olympic Games.
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