Kylian Mbappé, harmless and disappointing for his last Classic

Second top scorer in the history of the Classics, the Parisian captain, who left at the hour mark, missed the opportunity to make his mark one last time in the duel between OM and PSG on Sunday.

Kylian Mbappé had not revised his last Classic well. The Parisian striker may pay particular attention to his every move, carefully distilling his words to convey messages, but he could not hold back a pout of disappointment when Luis Enrique invited him to join the bench, Sunday March 31, during the closing match of the 27th day of Ligue 1 won by Paris. Leaving shortly after the hour mark under the copious whistles of the Vélodrome, at the same time as Ousmane Dembélé and Fabian Ruiz, the PSG captain could not hide his surprise at leaving a Classic between OM and PSG, which he had gotten into the habit of leaving his mark.

Especially since the capital club, reduced to 10 after the exclusion of Beraldo (40th), was only leading by a short head (1-0) at the time of its exit, and was suffering from the Olympian waves. Visibly disappointed, he headed towards the locker room alongside the French winger to dry off from the torrents of water which fell continuously on the pitch.

Mbappé undefeated against OM

The past of the Bondynois, second best scorer in the history of the Classics (9 goals and 2 assists in now 14 matches) behind the Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic (11 goals), was not enough to convince the Spanish technician to keep him on the lawn. The Catalan did not deviate from his line: no particular status for Mbappé, whose playing time he strives to manage like the others, with a view to the final straight and in particular the quarter-final of the Champions League against Barça.

“It’s always the same music, every week. It’s tiring. I’m the coach, I make decisions every day. And that’s what I’m going to do until my last day at PSG, the Parisian coach commented wearily on Prime Video after the match. I’m still trying to find the best solution for Paris. Sometimes I can be wrong, but those are my choices.”

It must also be said that the French international’s sluggish performance was not in his favor. In disorder, Mbappé on Sunday evening was 12 lost balls, 1 cross, 2 successful dribbles (out of 4), 14 successful passes out of 20 (70%), but above all no shots.

It is therefore without its captain and with a renewed attack line that Paris Saint-Germain went in search of an additional goal (Ramos, 85th) which allows it to achieve a new success in this major meeting of the Ligue 1. Not sure that this is enough to make him smile again, but Kylian Mbappé will bow out in the Classic with the status of a player who has not experienced defeat against OM in 14 matches (10 victories, 2 draws in Ligue 1, qualification for the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France in 2018 and success in the Champions Trophy in 2020).