Mbappé, two birds with one stone

Kylian Mbappé has a clear path to start preparing the transition from Paris to Madrid. The painful elimination with PSG for sure he eliminated any hint of doubt that he could feel and think about reversing his idea of ​​leaving the Parisian entity. The return home has finished confirming it. His future did not depend on this tie, as he himself announced after his exhibition in the first leg, but events reinforce his intentions of becoming a Real Madrid footballer and that “gentleman’s agreement” that he maintains with Florentino Pérez. Real Madrid showed him affection, the white dressing room gave him the occasional wink and discovered what Madrid is in the great nights of the Champions League, the great obsession of the French star.

Nothing prevents him, on a sporting level, from leaving Paris. He has experienced a collective leap back since the 2020 Champions League final. At that time, despite the defeat, he was summoned to take advantage of that inertia to try it the following year, that’s why the disappointment has been important. “It’s hard to digest, but before we had this quarter-final mental block, now we’re done with it,” Kylian perked up then. A blockade that has returned in a big way. Last season PSG went down a step by falling in semis against City and in this one, with the largest congregation of luxury signings (Messi, Donnarumma, Ramos…) that has ever been experienced in France, Mbappé’s dream has been shattered in the round of 16 and having a two-goal advantage built by himselfwith 30 minutes to go. To make matters worse, the PSG project is a volatile unknown, with Pochettino more than a foot out and thunder sounds from Qatar even with the management of Al-Khelaifi himself.

Nothing prevents him, on an emotional level, from leaving Paris. He has emptied himself for PSG in this tie, in the eyes of the whole world. Even from the scrutiny of the French press. “What can you blame him for? Despite the fear of the blow he received in the previous one, he was explosive, fast and his goal was wonderful”wrote about the star of Bondy the player-by-player analysis of L’Équipe. In his influential personal ratings, Mbappé got a 7, PSG’s best mark along with Verratti. The eternal relegated in the Parisian galaxy has been the one that has pulled the car.

Free from the magnifying glass, way of goodbye

Of that 3-1 for history, there are many more nuances. To Mbappé, despite his staged astonishment at seeing himself at the Bernabéu, almost absorbed for the cameras while he was delighted to see the works of the new white coliseum in PSG training last Tuesday, He was not sorry to see himself in Chamartín. On the contrary, it could be said that it spurred him on to show more vigorously the professionalism that he carries by flag (he celebrated the three goals, the legal one and the two annulled, with his usual style) while he remains under contract with his still club. Two goals in the tie from a Ballon d’Or contender. During the three months that remain in Paris, the critics’ magnifying glasses cannot point their finger at him and that is a help even though he has shown that he has very broad shoulders. Ligue1 is in PSG’s pocket (13 points ahead of Nice) thanks to his 14 goals, which precisely put his trident teammates in a bind (Neymar four; Messi, two). down the road, yeah received affection from important Madrid footballers such as Alaba (the cameras caught him saying a long sentence in the ear of a disappointed Mbappé after the final whistle) and He saw what his friend and reference Benzema is capable of, with whom he has telltale glances.

With the fresh memory of an electric night of those that do not remember even veterans of this game like Carlo Ancelotti, Mbappé has returned home almost with an air of farewell to the Parc des Princes and this stormy PSG and Madrid, who was confident that the star will be a white player before the tie, now believes it even more.