France's Kylian Mbappe has only scored four goals in 11 games for PSG against English teams.
On the evening of November 28, if not for the penalty in the 90+8 minute, Mbappe could have failed to score and PSG would have suffered a defeat. The equalizer against Newcastle was only Mbappe's fourth goal in 11 matches with PSG against English teams. The French striker's scoring rate for PSG in these matches is 0.36 goals per match, much lower than the average in the Champions League (0.65 goals per match) and scoring against Spanish teams (one goal per match).
"Luckily for Mbappe," So Foot wrote after the Newcastle-PSG match. "His dream is to play for Real Madrid, not Arsenal or Liverpool. Otherwise, he could become Gabriel Obertan when he comes to the Premier League."
Obertan is a French player who scored only four goals in 104 games for Man Utd and Newcastle.
Mbappe celebrates the equalizer in PSG's 1-1 draw with Newcastle in the fifth round of the Champions League group stage on the evening of November 28, at the Parc des Princes. Photo: Reuters
According to So Foot , English teams have found a formula to stop Mbappe: close and close with both hands, play aggressively, press, race for speed and commit reasonable fouls. The newspaper also recalled the match France won 2-1 England in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup, where Aurelien Tchouameni and Olivier Giroud scored instead of Mbappe. That match is considered the worst match of the French "number 10" at the World Cup.
Mbappe only played well against English clubs in the 2016-17 season, when he was still playing for Monaco. At that time, he scored two goals in two Champions League round of 16 matches. However, in four matches against Man City in the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons, Mbappe only scored once and PSG lost three matches.
At the Parc des Princes yesterday, Mbappe missed many opportunities. Among them was a tap-in right in the 5m50 area that hit goalkeeper Nick Pope, a volley that missed the open goal in the 55th minute, then a break and two shots that ultimately went wide of the far post in the 87th minute. However, with a successful penalty kick, as well as an aggressive style of play that created many opportunities for teammates, Mbappe is still one of the highest-rated players.
With the draw with Newcastle, PSG climbed to second place in Group F of the Champions League. They have seven points after five games, three points behind Dortmund, and two points ahead of Newcastle and Milan. In this group, the German team has already qualified. To decide their fate, PSG must win at Dortmund in the final match. If they draw or lose, Mbappe and his teammates will have to wait for the result of the match between Newcastle and Milan at the same time.
Thanh Quy (according to So Foot )
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