5 reasons why Kylian Mbappe holds the key for PSG knocking Real Madrid out of the Champions League
Paris Saint-Germain face an uphill task in their bid to advance to the quarter-finals of the Champions League this season.
Unai Emery’s side began the campaign as one of the favourites to clinch Europe’s flagship club tournament. However, they have been left on the brink after suffering a damaging 3-1 loss to Real Madrid in their last-16 first-leg tie.
The Parisians will welcome Los Blancos to the Parc des Princes on Tuesday looking to overturn the result but will have to do it without record-signing Neymar.
The absence of the Brazilian superstar has led to restricted hopes, with certain quarters holding that PSG will not be able to survive without their talisman.
However, despite Neymar being a big miss, the French giants have enough to smile about with regards to Kylian Mbappe’s return from injury.
Below are five reasons why Mbappe could lead PSG to eliminate Real Madrid from the Champions League.
#5 He’s more of a team player
There is no doubt that Neymar is the superstar of this PSG squad, however, the 25-year-old was part of the reasons why the side failed to return from the Santiago Bernabeu with a favourable result.
Neymar constantly chose to showboat, give the more complicated pass or over-exaggerate in his decision making which proved costly to PSG. In Mbappe, Unai Emery has at his disposal a more selfless player who is always ready to put the interests of the team ahead of personal goals.
The former Monaco star has shown over the course of the season that he is a team player and that attribute means his teammates stand to benefit from his play. The teenager is widely regarded as a potential Ballon d’Or winner in the future but he remains grounded and his ability to be involved in his side’s play makes PSG more dangerous when attacking.
There were moments in the first leg where Neymar could have just squared the ball to a teammate to initiate a quick attack but he often made a different choice which often pulled the breaks on an attacking move. Mbappe is the type who likes to play it simple. That, coupled with his creative abilities in the final third, means Madrid will have a lot on the hands.