Luis Enrique has shown throughout his career on the bench that he does not marry anyone, that his ideas and conception of football are above any player. The Asturian coach’s pulse does not tremble and in his recently released stage at PSG he is no exception, although his decisions bother the team’s undisputed star, Kylian Mbappé.
Bondy’s talent has not shown a smile in public for days, quite the opposite. Despite the Parisians’ in-extremis qualification for the Champions League round of 16, the striker ended the match against Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park upset. The coach and the Parisian sports director, Luis Campos, greeted the player in a cold manner after the game. The draw (1-1) earned the French champions a place as second in the group, but Mbappé wanted more.
Luis Enrique gave the order to calm down the game to avoid a goal against that would jeopardize PSG’s classification. “I understand the players, but I make all the team’s decisions. It is one of the best decisions of my sporting career. It would have been very ridiculous to concede a goal in the 88th minute for taking excessive risks. It is a decision at a moment of maximum tension, but it has been a great success for my staff and me,” said the Asturian about what happened in Dortmund in response to the serious expression that Mbappé showed after the final whistle.
According to RMC Sports, the Parisian did not like his coach’s decision and would have preferred to look for the winning goal with more effort to go first in the groups and avoid the bogeymen of the round of 16 draw. In the end, PSG was paired with Real Sociedad, a priori the least dangerous rival in the pot.
Mbappé’s supposed anger did not stay in Germany and he continued to show his disagreement in the match against Lille, as was seen in his non-verbal language. The Frenchman scored the opening goal of the game from a penalty, but did not celebrate. “That is not a question for me,” Luis Enrique answered at a press conference after the final draw (1-1) regarding the behavior of his pupil on the pitch.
Another reason that would have fueled the controversy between the two leaders of the team would have been Luis Enrique’s decision to place Mbappé in the center forward position in the Ligue 1 match, a position that is not the footballer’s favorite as He already expressed last season. “I will repeat it a million times. The only difference in Kylian’s positioning is if someone accompanies him inside or outside. Nothing more. He has total freedom,” the man from Gijón argued before the media after several seconds in front of the microphone. of a tense silence.
The newspaper L’Équipe details that the relationship between the coach and the player was fluid until a month ago. The Frenchman respects the honesty and sincerity of the Spaniard, but in recent weeks the relationship has experienced turbulent chapters. PSG, a club with constant extra-sporting problems and internal soap operas since the arrival of Qatar, is not having its best season, too irregular in both the Champions League and Ligue 1. The team’s news in recent years has revolved around future of Mbappé, whose contract expires next June and if he does not renew before January 1, something unlikely, he will be free to negotiate with another club, probably Real Madrid. Everything indicates that Bondy’s man will finally pack his bags in June, even more so if his relationship with Luis Enrique worsens.
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