Perched on his crutches, Kylian Mbappé is waiting to lift a new trophy in his young career with his teammates from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). Right in front of him, Emmanuel Macron calls out to him to improvise a lawn-edge journalist like a Laurent Paganelli in a suit and tie. “What’s the matter? “, inquires the head of state. “It cracked a bit anyway”, answers the attacker. Apropos presidential revival: “It’s cracked, do you think? “ ” No, I do not think so “, reassures Mbappé who tells his interlocutor that he has to go take exams ” right after “.
Funny scene for a funny finale. But could it be otherwise taking into account the context for this first official match in France after?
In a slip, Marquinhos summarized the state of mind of the Parisians after their short and sluggish victory against Saint-Etienne (1-0). “A final, you have to win it anyhow”, commented hot the Brazilian defender at the microphone of France 2. This Saturday, July 24, PSG won its thirteenth Coupe de France. His compatriot, Thiago Silva, joined Marceau Somerlinck, Dominique Bathenay and Alain Roche as record holder for victories with this fifth success. So much for the numbers and the charts.
When lifting the Charles-Simon Cup, the Parisian captain tried to put all his heart into it, to scream his joy amid the confetti in an almost empty stadium in France due to restrictions linked to the Covid epidemic -19. But the illusion does not take. Paris was not a party tonight and had the head in Portugal, in its internship in Faro, in this Champions League, in its quarter-final against Atalanta Bergamo, on August 12 in Lisbon.
His trainer was the first. In the midst of his deputies, a masked and agitated Thomas Tuchel already attacks the criticism of the meeting and does not have the heart for hugs. And it’s not just a question of barrier gestures. “We have a lot of things to analyze, that’s good”, let go, ironically, the German technician in a press conference.
Paris saved by a pole
His PSG did the job, filling the trophy cabinet a bit more but was roughed up by the 17e of the last Ligue 1 season, and even reduced to ten for almost an hour.
The evening opponent reminded his players of the difference between a preparation match and an official meeting. These Greens had not come to retrieve a Mbappé jersey or get a selfie from Neymar like the Havrais or the Belgians of Waasland-Beveren, very friendly partners of the recovery (curled 9-0 and 7-0 with a smile) .
On the first action of the meeting, Yvann Maçon sets the tone, shakes a Neymar perhaps still a little cold after listening to a first dialogue between Kylian Mbappé and an Emmanuel Macrcon taking news of the parents of the native of Bondy, during the presentation from teams to the president.
“You look good”, “I spoke to the Chancellor about you”: Emmanuel Macron and Kylian Mbappé exchange the amabs… https://t.co/Qi90XxGhRI
– Eurosport_FR (@Eurosport France)
Obviously, they are doing well. At least, better than the defense of PSG, distracted and which lets Denis Bouanga slip away, whose strike hits the post of Keylor Navas (5e minute).
Paris is under pressure, but Paris is cold as justice. In the quarter game, Mbappé requests a one-two with Leandro Paredes, file in the middle of three Stéphanois. Goalkeeper Jessy Moulin, thinks he has caught up, but pushes the ball back on Neymar whose left foot finishes the job (1-0).
Perrin, a red for the end
The 28 arrivese minute and the turning point of the match. Launched at full speed, Mbappé (still him) crosses the road of Loïc Perrin. Between the controlled intervention and the assassin’s tackle, it sometimes suffices a delay of a few tenths of a second. The Saint-Etienne captain takes everything with him (the ball and his opponent’s ankle), causing the start of a fight worthy of a Sunday morning match in Regional 3 between two neighboring villages. Saint-Etienne is reduced to ten and already mourns its emblematic captain, whose sporting retirement is no longer a very well-kept secret after seventeen years of wetting the green jersey.
On the PSG side, the match almost ends there. Icardi, Neymar and Sarabia make a Moulin des grands evenings shine, but the head is already elsewhere. The Parisians’ game is nothing but purring. All eyes are on the locker room where a Mbappé comes out to join the sidelines on his crutches.
Paris, its stars and the injury that falls badly before the major European deadlines: season 3. The scenario is the same, but the main actor has changed, Neymar giving way to the former Monegasque. “Everyone who sees this foul is worried. Of course I am worried! “, deplores a Tuchel also reassembled by a too lax arbitrage, to his liking, than by the Saint-Etienne vigor. “It was a healthy engagement, defends the coach of the Greens, Claude Puel. Of course I regret Kylian’s injury, I hope it’s light. “
Light or not, this injury has already spoiled a party that was not already shaping up to be the craziest for the winners of the evening and is likely to parasitize the week before the final of the Coupe de la Ligue against Lyon, next Friday. The atmosphere could be just as cozy, not to say sinister.
Supporter of a stoppage of the Ligue 1 season, Noël Le Graët did everything to ensure that “his” Coupe de France final took place in front of the maximum number of audiences. But in the absence of a full stadium, the president of the French Football Federation said of this tonnage of 5,000 people that “It was always better than in camera”. For uninformed ears, the difference was very subtle to grasp.
