On the evening of November 28, if there had not been a penalty in the 90+8 minute, Mbappe would have failed and PSG would have suffered defeat. The 1-1 equalizer against Newcastle was Mbappe’s fourth goal in 11 matches with PSG against teams from England. The rate of the French striker scoring for PSG in these matches is 0.36 goals per match, much lower than the general level in the Champions League (0.65 goals per match) and scoring against Spanish teams. Nha (one goal per match).
“Fortunately for Mbappe,” So Foot newspaper wrote after the Newcastle – PSG match. “His dream is to play for Real Madrid, not Arsenal or Liverpool. If not, he can become Gabriel Obertan when he comes to the Premier League.”
Obertan is a French player who only scored four goals in 104 matches for Man Utd and Newcastle.
According to So Foot, English teams have found a formula to stop Mbappe including: pressing closely with both hands, playing aggressively, pressing, racing at speed and committing fouls appropriately. The newspaper also recalled France’s 2-1 win over England in the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Cup, where Aurelien Tchouameni and Olivier Giroud scored instead of Mbappe. That match is considered the worst match of the “number 10” France team at the World Cup.
Mbappe only played well against English clubs in the 2016-2017 season, when he was still playing for Monaco. At that time, in two matches of the 1/8 round of the Champions League, he scored two goals. However, in four matches against Man City in the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons, Mbappe only had one goal and PSG lost three matches.
At Parc des Princes yesterday, Mbappe missed many opportunities. Including a buffer ball right inside the 5m50 area that hit goalkeeper Nick Pope, a missed volley in front of an open goal in the 55th minute, then a break through and two shots but finally sent the ball wide of the far post in the 87th minute. However, with a successful penalty kick and an aggressive style of play, creating many opportunities for teammates, Mbappe is still one of the highest scoring players.
With the draw against Newcastle, PSG climbed to second place in Group F of the Champions League. They have seven points after five matches, three points behind Dortmund, and two points ahead of Newcastle and Milan. In this group, the German team won the ticket to continue. To decide their own fate, PSG must win on Dortmund’s field in the final match. If they draw or lose, Mbappe and his teammates must wait for the results of the match at the same time between Newcastle and Milan.