Kylian Mbappe was the target of criticism from Christophe Dugarry after his performance for Paris Saint-Germain against Borussia Dortmund.
- Dugarry criticises Mbappe for Dortmund performance
- PSG scraped through to Round of 16
- Dugarry calls Mbappe an individualist
WHAT HAPPENED?
The French champions scraped through into the round of 16 of the Champions League after a 1-1 draw with the German side. They did, at one point, face elimination from the group stages as Newcastle United led AC Milan, while PSG were losing their tie. After the game, the former Milan and Barcelona star criticised star man Mbappe for not working hard enough for his side.
WHAT DUGARRY SAID
On RMC, Dugarry accused Mbappe of being an individualist: “I blame him for his attitude. I understand that statistics are important to him. He knew it was a match where he was expected. He had to be the leader of this PSG team and when I hear ‘leader’, I hear ‘exemplary’. His qualities are not called into question, but the example has not been shown. He is a boy who is not concerned with any defensive task. He makes no effort when a defender passes three, four, five meters from him.”
“I saw a passive Mbappe. He only harangued his teammates at the end to complain. I want to tell him that he should have done it before. I didn’t see him press Süle and Hummels. I was very, very disappointed in his behavior.
“He must get it in his head that a leader must set an example and feel concerned. I remember Zizou. When you saw him try so hard, run so much, defend so much, you had to move. Zizou was a collective, he is an individualist.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Despite the rather poor group stage campaign, the Parisians sneaked out of the ‘Group of Death’ in second place with Borussia Dortmund finishing top. They could now face one of Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Atletico Madrid, Manchester City or Barcelona in the next round.
WHAT NEXT FOR MBAPPE?
The French superstar will now be in action with the Parisians when they take on Lille on Sunday, December 17. The draw for the next round of the Champions League will take place the next day, December 18 in Nyon, Switzerland.