Tag: PSG

Mbappe is only 24 and is already PSG’s all-time top goalscorer

Mbappé scored again, but this time he made PSG history

This soccer thing might just be working out for Kylian Mbappé.

The Paris Saint-Germain and France star, who as a reminder is still just 24, made some history on Saturday by scoring his 201st goal for the club. That’s a new PSG record, and one that would be an amazing achievement for someone with over a decade at a given club. Mbappé, who only moved to PSG in August 2017, is just built a little different.

Mbappé set the record in the last moments of PSG’s 4-2 win over Nantes. It had been something of a rocky game for the Parisians, with Nantes fighting from 2-0 down to equalize before halftime. PSG nosed back in front thanks to Danilo Pereira’s 60th minute goal, before Mbappé secured his place in the PSG record books in stoppage time.

With Nantes building out of the back in pursuit of a last-gasp equalizer at the Parc des Princes, Timothée Pembélé applied some token pressure, and then pounced as the visitors made a complete mess of the situation.

Pembélé, as is often the case for PSG players, found himself in the box with two unreal options: feed Mbappé, or cut it back for Leo Messi lurking at the top of the box.

Maybe Pembélé never saw Messi, or maybe he just wanted to make sure he got the assist on a history-making goal, but he fed Mbappé — with Nantes defender Jean-Charles Castelletto on his back — eight yards from goal.

Mbappé posted up on Castelletto before rolling him, catching the defender leaning before turning to his left to fire past Alban Lafont.

The goal took Mbappé past Edinson Cavani, who scored 200 times for PSG in 301 appearances between 2013-20. For Mbappé, it only took 247 games to break the Uruguayan’s club record.

“It’s a personal achievement but I also came here for collective achievements,” Mbappé said in quotes published by the AP. “I was still a young player when I arrived here. I’ve learned a lot here. I play to write history, and I always said that I want to do it here, in France, in its capital city.”

Following the match, Mbappé was presented with a “201” trophy to commemorate the occasion. Given that his contract runs through 2025 (and could end up going through 2027 if option years are taken up), there’s every chance that Mbappé will end up setting such a high mark for PSG that no one gets close to it for decades to come.

(Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)

Mbappé is, perhaps unsurprisingly, back atop the Ligue 1 goalscorers’ table for the 2022-23 season, with 17 goals after 26 matches. That puts him two ahead of two CONCACAF-connected forwards, with Folarin Balogun (who remains eligible for the U.S. men’s national team) and Canada striker Jonathan David both tied for second with 15 goals apiece.

[lawrence-related id=13555,13079,14767]

Neymar joins ever-expanding list of PSG absentees for Bayern clash

Neymar is one of a possible five absentees for a must-win match

Paris Saint-Germain’s quest to finally win a Champions League just keeps getting more difficult.

Speaking ahead of his side’s home match against Nantes, PSG boss Christophe Gaultier has confirmed that Neymar will be out for both this weekend’s game as well as Wednesday’s second leg at Bayern Munich.

“Neymar will not be available in the next two games,” Galtier told reporters on Friday. “Without him, we may play with two [central] midfielders and three attackers, or three midfielders and two attackers.”

Back on February 19, Neymar appeared to roll his ankle in PSG’s wild 4-3 comeback win over Lille, leaving the game early in the second half on a stretcher. The following weekend, PSG adjusted to his absence in a 3-0 win at Marseille by bringing Marquinhos in at the back, shifting into a 3-5-2 formation.

Against Lille, Galtier sent Hugo Ekitiké in as Neymar’s replacement, but the 20-year-old is a very different sort of player. That wasn’t the only injury-enforced change for PSG on the day, as Nuno Mendes left the match after just 31 minutes. The Portuguese left back’s status for PSG’s upcoming games is uncertain.

PSG badly shorthanded vs. Bayern

While the win over Marseille was potentially decisive in Ligue 1 — PSG moved eight points ahead of l’OM, their closest competition for the league title at the moment — it came with yet another serious injury. Presnel Kimpembe suffered a torn Achilles tendon, adding to a growing list of injury doubts as PSG faces its biggest challenge of the season at the Allianz Arena.

In his press conference, Galtier noted that wingback Achraf Hakimi — who is being investigated for rape by French authorities — is questionable due to “muscle pain” that the coach says stems from an injury picked up during the World Cup.

Renato Sanches, meanwhile, seems sure to remain out after suffering a reoccurrence of a hamstring strain last month.

It’s not a great recipe for a PSG side that were outplayed in Paris by Bayern, falling 1-0 on a goal from Kingsley Coman. At full strength, they would have an enormously difficult task on their hands: no one has beaten Bayern at home since Eintracht Frankfurt notched a 2-1 victory back on October 3, 2021.

But without Neymar and so many other important players? It’s hard to see PSG managing to advance to the quarterfinals, leaving their pursuit of Champions League glory on hold for at least another year.

[lawrence-related id=14750,14280,14107]

PSG and Morocco star Achraf Hakimi investigated for rape

The 24-year-old has yet to comment publicly on the allegations.

PSG and Morocco defender Achraf Hakimi is being investigated for rape, according to French prosecutors.

Multiple reports on Friday stated that the prosecutor’s department of Nanterre, just outside Paris, has opened an investigation into Hakimi after a 23-year-old woman went to police accusing him of rape.

In a statement to CNN on Wednesday, a PSG spokesperson said the club “supports the player who has firmly denied the accusations and trusts the justice system. Paris Saint-Germain is an institution that promotes respect on and off the pitch.”

Hakimi’s lawyer Fanny Colin denounced the allegations in a statement, saying: “It follows in my opinion from the documents which are in the hands of the judicial police that Mr. Hakimi has, in this case, been the subject of an attempted racketeering.”

Hakimi, 24, has yet to comment publicly on the allegations.

Rachel Flore Pardo, the lawyer for the alleged victim, told AFP: “My client maintains everything that she said. She made the choice to speak exclusively to prosecutors and does not want the affair to become a media issue, mainly to protect her safety.”

Hakimi appeared in Paris on Monday at the FIFA Best awards ceremony, where he was named in the FIFA FIFPRO Men’s World 11.

The honor came after the right back led Morocco on an improbable run to the semifinal at World Cup 2022, becoming the first African nation to reach the last four of the competition.

Sergio Ramos got mad and shoved a photographer

The defender was not happy after PSG’s loss to Bayern Munich

Sergio Ramos was not happy after PSG’s defeat to Bayern Munich, and he took out some of his frustration on an unsuspecting photographer.

PSG fell 1-0 to Bayern on Tuesday night in the Champions League last-16 first leg, as Kingsley Coman’s goal settled the match at Parc des Princes.

The result leaves PSG needing to win at the Allianz Arena on March 8 or suffer yet another major disappointment in European competition.

Following the disappointing performance, PSG’s players went to their home fans to thank them for their support. Amid a crowd of photographers looking to get up close and personal with some of his teammates, Ramos was visibly annoyed.

After telling off one photographer, the defender was brushed against by a second. That clearly set him off, as he gave the photographer a hard, two-handed shove that sent him stumbling backwards before regaining his balance.

PSG has now lost three matches in a row in all competitions.

[lawrence-related id=14107,13387,14092]

Slumping PSG on the verge of another Champions League disappointment

PSG is looking at yet another early Champions League exit

What if Paris Saint-Germain added a fourth player who at some point was in the argument for the world’s best player? Would that work?

Something has to give for PSG, whose Champions League disappointments may well continue after they fell to a 1-0 home loss to Bayern Munich in their round of 16 first leg match on Tuesday.

Despite their many superstars, PSG have suddenly lost more games in the last six days than they had all season.

The latest defeat almost felt expected. With Kylian Mbappé only able to play 33 minutes off the bench, PSG looked flat from kickoff and seemed to be hoping to simply get through this first leg with a chance to take the tie with a second-leg win. They may have been lucky that Bayern decided to approach the match with patience rather than firing on all cylinders.

In the end, Kingsley Coman’s 53rd minute goal sneaked past Gianluigi Donnarumma, leaving PSG — even with Mbappé, Leo Messi, and Neymar all in the fold — staring at the massive disappointment of an early Champions League exit.

PSG has now lost three straight matches, falling 2-1 at Marseille in the Coupe de France on February 8, and then being beaten at Monaco 3-1 in Ligue 1 three days later. That hasn’t happened since 2020, when they fell in the final game of the 2019-2020 season and then lost their first two matches after the abbreviated break between seasons.

If they can’t figure out how to win at the Allianz Arena on March 8, it’ll be the latest European disappointment for a team built to, you know, win the Champions League.

Round of 16 exit not acceptable

Mbappé, Messi, and Neymar are joined by Donnarumma, Sergio Ramos, Achraf Hakimi, Fabián, Marco Verratti, and one of Europe’s great young prospects in Warren Zaïre-Emery in the kind of squad assembled when you expect to win everything. Another failure may result in Christophe Galtier becoming the latest high-profile manager to fall short at PSG, where winning Ligue 1 is considered a matter of course at this point.

The fact is, though, that PSG has a long history of not making it happen on the European stage. Their only trophy in UEFA competition remains the 1995-1996 Cup Winners’ Cup, a competition so old that it is literally defunct. The only other European adventure that went well for them was the 2001 Intertoto Cup, a competition that was really little more than an expanded qualification process for the old UEFA Cup.

Last year, PSG saw a 2-0 aggregate lead disappear at this same stage, with Karim Benzema scoring a hat trick in the final 30 minutes to send Real Madrid through instead. In 2020-21, PSG got as far as the semifinals, but were brushed aside by Manchester City. A year earlier, this same result — 1-0 against Bayern, with Coman scoring in the final of the pandemic-shortened version of that year’s Champions League (which was the first game in the aforementioned previous three-game losing streak for the club).

Mbappé’s second-half return from injury will probably mean a quick reversal in their overall form. Without the France star, they scraped out a 2-1 win over Toulouse before beginning this three-game losing streak. And sure enough, even looking less than 100%, the PSG attack suddenly found more space due to the threat of Mbappé’s runs in behind.

Still, while Mbappé’s return will most likely change PSG’s poor form in French play, it seems like it’ll take more than that to end whatever the hex is that hangs over them once the opening chords of the Champions League theme starts to ring out on matchday.

[lawrence-related id=13387,12093,14092]

Zaire-Emery, 16, becomes youngest player to start Champions League knockout game

The midfielder started alongside two players who debuted in the competition before he was born

Warren Zaïre-Emery made history on Tuesday, becoming the youngest player to ever start a Champions League knockout game.

The PSG midfielder started his side’s last-16 first leg at home against Bayern Munich, setting the record at 16 years, 343 days.

PSG also started Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos in the same game, both of whom had already made their Champions League debuts when Zaïre-Emery was born on March 8, 2006.

Zaïre-Emery has been setting records all season, becoming the youngest player to make his Ligue 1 debut for PSG at 16 years, four months and 29 days when he came off the bench in the team’s Ligue 1 opener in August.

He also set the record for the youngest PSG starter in Ligue 1 when he was named in the team against Rennes in January.

The teenager then became the youngest goalscorer in the history of PSG when he scored against Montpellier this month.

ESPN FC recounted a story Vitinha told his agent Jorge Mendes upon arriving at the club last summer.

“Who is this kid that you got in your team? He is an alien!” he said after training with Zaïre-Emery, who is also represented by Mendes.

The PSG academy product has now made 15 appearances for the first team this season. He has also represented France at various youth levels, most recently featuring with the U-19s.

[lawrence-related id=13387,12093,11730]

Kylian Mbappe unthinkably missed 2 PKs and a rebound in succession and soccer fans were stunned

Mbappe is too good to miss THIS badly!

Usually, when superstar Kylian Mbappe has an open goal mouth — be it for PSG or the French Men’s National team — he’s probably going to score. There’s a reason some see him as the heir apparent to the arguably “GOAT” in Lionel Messi.

But Wednesday threw a bit of a change-up in Mbappe’s direction. As PSG took on Montpellier in a Ligue 1 matchup, Mbappe had a very early opportunity to cash in with a penalty kick. While the attempt was saved, the talisman had a shot at retaking it. And again … Mbappe missed. But this time, a juicy rebound came to his foot.

Did he score? No, no. He sent the ball over the bar.

Woof, what an inexplicably awful sequence for one of the modern faces of soccer:

To add injury to insult, Mbappe would leave this game in the 21st minute with what seemed to be a hamstring ailment. (Extent unknown.)

At least Mbappe can take solace in knowing his misses didn’t cost PSG a victory. Thanks largely to the exploits of his teammate in Messi, PSG wound up comfortably winning 3-1 anyway. Still, this was an early turn of events that Mbappe will undoubtedly want to forget soon once he heals.

Zlatan siendo Ibrahimovic, dice que nada funciona en PSG desde que se fue

El delantero sueco tuvo un paso muy exitoso por la Ligue 1 donde en cuatro temporadas consiguió 12 títulos con el PSG

Si hay un personaje del futbol que ha sido fiel a su estilo es Zlatan Ibrahimovic quien ahora criticó fuerte al PSG y a su tridente estrella conformado por Messi, Neymar y Mbappé.

El delantero del Milan recordó su paso por la Ligue 1 en una entrevista con Canal + donde dejó claro que las cosas han cambiado desde su paso por el PSG en el 2016.

“Desde que me fui de Francia, todo ha ido cuesta abajo. Ya no hay nada de qué hablar en Francia. Francia me necesita, yo no necesito a Francia. Incluso si tienes Mbappé, Neymar y Messi, no te ayuda porque no tienes a Dios”, comentó Ibra.

USA TODAY Sports

El delantero sueco tuvo un paso muy exitoso por la Ligue 1 donde en cuatro temporadas consiguió 12 títulos con el PSG y la afición le recuerda con mucho cariño.

Por lo que a sus 41 años todavía podría fichar para el PSG y darle nuevas alegrías a una afición que no olvida el paso del sueco por la Ligue 1 pues incluso sus números son mejores en la última campaña que los que registra Messi pues Zlatan marcó 50 goles y 19 asistencias en 51 duelos, mientras que Messi en la misma cantidad de duelos lleva 23 goles y 28 asistencias.

[lawrence-auto-related count=4]

Por esta razón Messi está más cerca de Miami que de cualquier otro equipo

El futuro de Messi está en Miami, probablemente de igual manera fuera de la cancha como dentro de ella.

A lo largo de este año, varias veces hemos mencionado que Leo Messi podría llegar a la MLS tan pronto como para la próxima temporada. El PSG busca las negociaciones para mantener a la estrella en tierras parisinas y por su parte el Barcelona está rascando centavos para poder negociar una oferta que lo haga regresar. Aún así, el Inter Miami se posiciona como favorito.

Según The Athletic de Estados Unidos, las negociaciones no se han detenido y el tema va en serio. Aunque claro que Miami no tiene la relevancia que sí tienen los equipos de futbol europeos, Messi tiene varias razones para mudarse a Florida.

“Las conversaciones entre la franquicia de la MLS y el entorno del futbolista vienen desde hace tiempo y están avanzadas”, asegura el portal.

Todo gira alrededor del dinero. El argentino había compartido interés por hacerse del 35% del Inter Miami. Además, tiene varias inversiones millonarias en inmuebles que le dan una razón más para estar cerca de sus negocios.

Y pensando que el dinero no fuera suficiente, recordemos que a Leo le encanta pasar tiempo en Miami, vacacionando con su familia.

El futuro de Messi está en Miami, probablemente de igual manera fuera de la cancha como dentro de ella. El terreno para recibirlo es suelo cada vez más estable, y según The Athletic el fichaje podría llegar tan pronto termine el Mundial de Qatar.

 

Weston McKennie goal not enough as Juventus crash out of Champions League

Good for McKennie, bad for Juventus

A rough start to the 2022-23 season just got worse for Juventus.

Juve were eliminated from the Champions League on Tuesday, after a 4-3 loss at Benfica ended their last hopes of escaping from Group H. Weston McKennie’s late goal was not enough to spark a comeback that Juve needed to have any chance at the knockout round heading into the final round of group stage games.

The Italian powerhouse had to win, but fell behind on António Silva’s 17th minute goal, and even Moise Kean’s 21st minute equalizer only delayed the bad news. By the 50th minute, it was 4-1 in favor of Benfica after a penalty from João Mário and Rafa Silva’s brace.

Arek Milik’s 77th minute goal saved some face for Juventus, and two minutes later McKennie popped up amid a mad scramble to fire home after Samuel Iling-Junior’s cross was pushed into the goalmouth by Benfica goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos.

The goal is the second this week for McKennie, as he also headed home a corner kick against Empoli this past weekend in Serie A. It’s also his second Champions League goal of the campaign, as he also got on the scoresheet against Paris Saint-Germain back in September.

Two goals in less than three minutes was just what Juventus needed in the moment. It’s just that realistically, falling behind by three goals in a game you have to win is not a recipe for success. Benfica held on for the win, and now Juventus — in the latest chapter of a massively disappointing start to the season — will bow out of the Champions League at the first hurdle.

Believe it or not, things could even get worse. On three points, Juve have PSG coming to town in next week’s final matchday, while Maccabi Haifa (who also have three points) will host Benfica. While Juventus has a six-goal edge on goal difference, a loss to PSG would open the door to the further humiliation of not even getting a Europa League spot as a consolation prize.

Watch McKennie’s late goal for Juventus