The biggest test so far will be the Club World Cup semi-final on July 9, of the Xabi Alonso revolution in Real Madrid. Kylian Mbappe face PSG the 1st time since he left the French club a year ago.
Legacy Tainted: Mbappé’s Bitter PSG Exit
After spending seven successful seasons at PSG and leaving as their all-time leading scorer with 256 goals in 308 appearances, Mbappe deserves to be recognised as a PSG legend.
However, the way he left Paris, which many believed was a sign that he was merely waiting for the right time to join Madrid, the team he had always wanted to play for as a child, somewhat tainted his legacy.
Nasser al-Khelaifi, the president of PSG in Qatar, was not pleased with Mbappe’s decision to expire his contract and join Real Madrid in 2024, depriving them of a transfer fee.
Legal Battle: Unpaid Salaries and Dropped Harassment Claim
Since then, the parties have been involved in a bitter legal battle, with Mbappe arguing he is due 55 million euros in unpaid salaries and bonuses from his time in Paris.
The latest turn occurred this week, when one of Mbappe lawyers announced that the France captain had dropped a complaint of moral harassment against his former employers.
It was following the announcement last month by the Paris prosecutor’s office that it had opened an investigation after the player complained about the way PSG had treated him in the summer of 2023.
He feels that PSG had sidelined him and had to train with players that the club wanted to get rid of after he refused to sign a new deal.
Mbappe was absent during the preseason tour to Japan and the beginning of the next season before being recalled to the squad of Luis Enrique.
Mbappé’s Stellar First Season at Real Madrid
Mbappe ought to have moved on from all of that a long time ago, considering how his 1st season at Madrid has gone personally.
In 2018, the 26 yr old World Cup champion scores 43 goals in 56 games across all competitions with his new team until the end of the LaLiga season, which was an incredible accomplishment.
Club World Cup Setback: Mbappé’s Illness and Impact Sub Role
Mbappe, on the other hand, has been frustrated at the Club World Cup, missing out on all group stage matches due to gastroenteritis that required hospital treatment.
Young forward Gonzalo Garcia has also made a brilliant switch, with 4 goals in his five games in the USA, in his absence.
The most recent of these was the opener in Saturday’s 3-2 quarter-final victory over Borussia Dortmund at MetLife Stadium, but it was Mbappe who scored the game-winner.
After coming on as a substitute halfway through the second half, he scored Madrid’s third goal of the match with an incredible, acrobatic overhead kick in stoppage time.
Mbappe is improving every day, yet his performance is still not perfect, according to Alonso.
Now he will have 3 days to keep progressing and feeling better ahead of the semi-final.
One can hardly imagine that Mbappe will not make his 1st start in the tournament against PSG, the club that won the Champions League the season after his departure after so many years of disappointment in Europe with him on the roster.
Enrique PSG Focused on Final Amidst Readl Madrid Clash
PSG had just defeated Inter Milan 5-0 in the Champions League final when they arrived in the US.
Despite having two players sent off—Willian Pacho and Lucas Hernandez—they defeated Bayern 2-0 in Atlanta in the round of 8 and advanced to the final 4 so they shouldn’t be concerned about Real.
Who we play in the semifinals is irrelevant. All that matters is that we’re there and that we want to make it to the final, said Enrique, who spent five years as a player at Madrid during the 1990s.
Xabi Alonso’s Tactical Flexibility for PSG Showdown
Alonso has recently taken over as Real Madrid coach after an outstanding spell with Bayer Leverkusen, and he has already demonstrated great tactical versatility by switching between a back four and a 3-man central defence during the tournament.
Whether Mbappé starts against PSG for the 1st-time since Jul 2017, He still a sensation at Monaco, and the system he selects will be intriguing to watch.
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