Everyday life has also returned to the World Cup stars from Paris St. Germain. In the league, Kylian Mbappé is once again proving to be a difference player. Meanwhile, his colleague Neymar is causing a stir: a flight brings the Brazilian the second yellow card.
World Cup top scorer Kylian Mbappé has once again proved to be a difference player for his club Paris St. Germain. Ten days after losing the World Cup final in the Ligue 1 game against outsiders Racing Straßburg, the French star attacker scored the winning goal from the penalty spot to make it 2-1 (1-0).
In the sixth minute of stoppage time, Mbappé kept his nerve – unlike the Brazilian top star Neymar: He saw the yellow card in the 61st minute for a foul, two minutes later he flew off the field after a yellow-red swallow. According to the TV station Canal, the 30-year-old left the Prinzenparkstadion during the game.
Neymar’s compatriot Marquinhos initially gave Paris the lead (14′) and equalized after the break with an own goal (51′). Paris, where the Argentinian idol Lionel Messi received special leave until the beginning of January after the World Cup triumph, celebrated their 14th win in 16 league games and consolidated their lead in the table. For Mbappé, the transition to everyday life was anything but easy. “I don’t think I’ll ever get over the failure at the World Cup,” he said.
Goalkeeper Alexander Nübel, on loan from German record champions Bayern Munich, also celebrated an important victory with AS Monaco in the fight for European Cup places. The club from the Principality prevailed 3-2 (1-1) at AJ Auxerre and initially climbed to fifth place in the table.
The 26-year-old Nübel is one of FC Bayern’s candidates to compensate for the failure of national goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. The captain broke his lower leg on a skiing holiday in the Alps at the beginning of December after Germany lost the World Cup and will be absent at least until the summer.
Nübel is the “most obvious solution” for FC Bayern, said sporting director Hasan Salihamidži? shortly before Christmas. However, Nübel’s loan runs until the end of the current season. “In the end, AS Monaco have the last word,” said Salihamidži?.
After the game in Auxerre, Monaco coach Philippe Clement told Prime Video that Nübel was “fully focused on Monaco” and “works very well with us.” He has “nothing more to say”. Among others, the Swiss national goalkeeper Yann Sommer, whose contract with Borussia Mönchengladbach expires at the end of the season, is being treated as a serious alternative for FC Bayern.
