Kylian Mbappe slammed by L'Equipe for his underwhelming showing against Barcelona, receives 3/10 rating
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) forward Kylian Mbappe has been slammed by the French media after the Parisians' 3-2 loss to Barcelona. Famous French daily L'Equipe gave him a shocking 3/10 rating for his performance in the first leg of PSG's Champions League quarter-final tie against the Catalan giants at home.
Barcelona took the lead through Raphinha in the first half but PSG managed to take the lead just five minutes into the second half with quick-fire goals from Ousmane Dembele and Vitinha. However, the home side could not keep hold of the lead for long, with Raphinha finding the back of the net again for the Catalan side.
Andreas Christensen came off the bench in the 75th minute for Barcelona and managed to head home seconds later to hand his side the victory.
But the focus remained on Mbappe as he failed to get a single shot on target on Wednesday night. He also completed just one of his five attempted dribbles and lost the ball on 13 occasions.
Defender Marquinhos, however, was confident about Mbappe bouncing back in the second leg and told the media after the game:
"Surely Kylian Mbappe is going to be better in Barcelona. He is the first one who wants to go to the semifinals, he is a very important player for us. I am sure that he will give the best version of himself in Barcelona."
Luis Enrique not focusing on Kylian Mbappe after PSG vs Barcelona
PSG boss Luis Enrique refused to point fingers at Kyliann Mbappe after PSG's loss to Barcelona. He stated that the loss was on the team and the coach, and it was his job to help them improve.
He said:
"I'm not talking individually after a defeat, I'm talking about the team, about the work, about many things to improve and the coach is the most responsible."
Talking about the defeat, he added:
"All defeats hurt and bother, but this match, like all others, has had ups and downs. We started well, dominating, but after 0-1, we had doubts when it came to putting pressure against a Barça with a lot of quality who knew how to break the pressure. At half-time, we changed things and we were able to turn the game around, but after a wonderful play from the second line it was 2-2 and then it was 2-3 from a corner. We had two goals, but the result was negative."
PSG travel to face Barcelona on Tuesday, April 16, in the second leg of the quarterfinals. Kylian Mbappe scored a hattrick when he last faced the Catalan side in Spain.