Tag: Paris Saint-Germain

Kylian Mbappe scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain romped to a 4-1 win away at Lyon on Sunday to leave their crisis-hit opponents bottom of Ligue 1.

Mbappe’s two goals in the first half sandwiched strikes by Achraf Hakimi and Marco Asensio as PSG produced a ruthless performance that augurs well for the rest of the season.

Corentin Tolisso pulled one back with a penalty for Lyon but the seven-time former French champions are enduring a miserable start to the campaign and are bottom with just one point from four games.

Laurent Blanc’s side prop up the division on goal difference behind last season’s runners-up Lens and Clermont.

PSG, meanwhile, are up to second, two points behind early league leaders Monaco, after a second straight win to follow draws in their opening two games.

“It is a great result. It is not easy to come and win here, regardless of what the opposition are going through,” said PSG captain Marquinhos.

“We are not yet playing exactly the way the coach wants us to but we are making great progress.

“He is very demanding, very hard with us. He has said there is still room for improvement.”

Luis Enrique’s team are building towards the start of their Champions League campaign which will see them come up against Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan and Newcastle United in the group stage.

They still have Randal Kolo Muani to come into the team after the France striker joined from Eintracht Frankfurt in a reported 90 million-euro ($97m) deal just before the transfer window closed on Friday.

This game came too soon for Kolo Muani to make his debut, but there was a first appearance for Bradley Barcola after he joined from Lyon on Thursday for a fee that could reach 50 million euros.

Barcola came off the bench late on to a chorus of jeers and whistles from the home support, but the game was well and truly over by then.

PSG went ahead in the fourth minute as Mbappe netted a penalty after Manuel Ugarte’s pressing led to him being brought down in the box by Tolisso.

Hakimi made it 2-0 in 20 minutes, following in to score after Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes had turned a low Ousmane Dembele cross out into his path.

The visitors needed Gianluigi Donnarumma to make fine saves from Rayan Cherki and Tolisso, while in between that Hakimi hit the bar at the end of a lighting PSG counterattack.

They scored again on 38 minutes in clinical fashion, Ugarte releasing Asensio for the former Real Madrid man to score his second goal in as many games.

Asensio turned provider as PSG made it 4-0 in first-half stoppage time, sending Mbappe through to beat Lopes for his second of the night and his fifth in three games since returning to the team following a contract dispute.

The final score could have been embarrassing for Lyon but Dembele hit the bar with a header early in the second half and the hosts then won a penalty in the 73rd minute.

A lengthy VAR check deciphered a trip by Warren Zaire-Emery on Nicolas Tagliafico, and Tolisso tucked in the resulting spot-kick.

Yet Lyon’s dreadful start to the season on the pitch comes amid turbulence off it under new American owner John Textor, who was not able to make the summer signings he desired because of the club’s financial situation.

The team’s results pile pressure on coach Blanc, the former PSG boss who took over less than a year ago.

A banner unfurled by fans during the game called on him to resign.

“The supporters are entitled to be disappointed, with the team and the coach,” he told broadcaster Amazon Prime.

“But in our situation I don’t think there is only one person who is responsible. Everyone is responsible.”

Lyon are bottom after Clermont claimed their first point of the season earlier on Sunday, equalising late on to draw 2-2 at Toulouse.

There were also wins on Sunday for Le Havre, Lille and Nice.

Monaco went clear at the summit with a 3-0 win over Lens on Saturday.

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Kylian Mbappe won and converted a penalty on his Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) return on Saturday in a 1-1 draw at Toulouse after being reinstated to the first team following a contract dispute with the French champions.

The France captain started on the bench but came on in the 51st minute and promptly broke the deadlock, drawing a foul from Rasmus Nicolaisen and tucking away the resulting spot-kick just past the hour mark.

Zakaria Aboukhlal equalised with a penalty three minutes from time after he was tugged back by Morocco team-mate Achraf Hakimi, leaving Luis Enrique still searching for his first win as PSG coach.

“The result is a disappointment. The draw is mainly down to a lack of luck,” said the Spaniard, refusing to be drawn into a debate over Mbappe beginning the game as a substitute.

“I know you (the media) like these controversial questions but my staff and I are going to keep managing things how we see fit.”

Mbappe’s appearance was his first for PSG since a friendly on July 21 after not being invited to the pre-season tour in Japan and South Korea and then missing the opening 0-0 draw against Lorient.

He had been made to train with players the club are trying to offload after he refused to sign an extension to his PSG deal, but the 24-year-old was brought back into the fold last Sunday after holding “constructive and positive discussions” with the club.

The U-turn came just two days before Neymar was sold to Saudi side Al-Hilal for a fee believed to be close to 100 million euros ($109 million).

French media reported Mbappe made Neymar’s departure one of the necessary conditions for him to sign a new contract in 2022, when the former was strongly linked with a move to Real Madrid.

Mbappe was joined in the squad in Toulouse by new signing Ousmane Dembele, the two close friends named on the bench for the visit to the French Cup holders.

PSG created few clear-cut chances a week ago against Lorient and were again limited in the first half, Hakimi denied by the legs of Guillaume Restes and Goncalo Ramos thwarted by a sharp reflex stop.

Mikkel Desler curled an attempt narrowly over for Toulouse before teenager Warren Zaire-Emery’s fine strike was ruled out for offside just after the break.

Luis Enrique soon turned to Mbappe and Dembele, the latter wearing the number 10 shirt vacated by Neymar, and their impact on the game was almost immediate.

Mbappe’s foot was caught by the trailing leg of Nicolaisen, the PSG forward awarded a penalty after a VAR review and sweeping home the opening goal.

Dembele’s clipped ball through for Vitinha saw the Portuguese midfielder lift over the advancing Restes only for his effort to spin just wide of the post.

PSG’s inability to add a second goal proved costly when Hakimi was punished for needlessly impeding Aboukhlal as he chased the ball on the edge of the box.

Aboukhlal, who scored in last week’s 2-1 win at Nantes, beat Gianluigi Donnarumma from the spot to snatch a valuable point for the hosts.

“I’m very happy with the result and very proud of the team. For us it’s like a victory,” said Toulouse coach Carles Martinez Novell, who worked with Barcelona’s youth teams when Luis Enrique was in charge there.

Lyon slumped to a second straight defeat to start the season as captain Alexandre Lacazette was sent off in a 4-1 home loss to Montpellier earlier on Saturday.

Beaten by Strasbourg last weekend, Lyon fell behind to an Arnaud Nordin goal before Jordan international Mousa Al-Tamari struck in either half for Montpellier.

Lacazette pulled a goal back but then saw red for kicking out in frustration at Teji Savanier.

Nigerian Akor Adams, who scored twice on his Montpellier debut in a 2-2 draw with Le Havre, compounded Lyon’s misery with a late fourth goal.

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Neymar was “in negotiations” on Sunday to become the latest football superstar to decamp for Saudi Arabia, leaving Paris Saint-Germain just as Kylian Mbappe was brought back in from the cold by the French champions.

A source close to PSG told AFP that 31-year-old Neymar “no longer figures in the club or manager’s plans” with the Brazilian immediately linked to Al-Hilal in the Gulf kingdom.

Another source in Saudi Arabia said that “direct negotiations” between Neymar’s agents and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) were ongoing.

“If we reach an agreement with him in the coming hours, we would start negotiating with PSG immediately. He would play for Al-Hilal if a deal is sealed,” said the source.

Neymar joined PSG for a record 220 million euros ($241m) from Barcelona in 2017. Some media reports on Sunday claimed that Al-Hilal would offer in the region $80 million for the Brazilian.

Last month Al-Hilal made a 300-million-euro bid for Kylian Mbappe, though the striker reportedly refused to meet with officials from the team.

Neymar underwent surgery on his right ankle in early March, only returning to join PSG on their pre-season tour of Asia.

His time at PSG has been blighted by a catalogue of injuries.

Although he helped the club to the 2020 Champions League final he has often been sidelined for key games.

If Neymar does end up moving to Saudi Arabia he will join a growing list of top players lured to the oil-rich kingdom since Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Al-Nassr in January.

Al-Hilal have traditionally been one of Saudi Arabia’s top clubs and have been crowned Asian Champions League winners on four occasions.

They are coached by Portugal’s Jorge Jesus, who is in his second spell at the club, while the squad currently boasts four international players recently lured from Europe — Ruben Neves, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Kalidou Koulibaly and Neymar’s Brazilian compatriot Malcom.

Neymar’s anticipated departure from PSG would follow that of Lionel Messi who now plays for Inter Miami in the United States.

In a sign of the growing impact of the Saudis in world football, Roberto Mancini was reported Sunday to be the man lined up to become the manager of the country’s national team after his shock resignation from European champions Italy.

It has been a rocky build-up to the new Ligue 1 season for champions PSG with both Mbappe and Neymar left out of new coach Luis Enrique’s team for Saturday’s underwhelming opening goalless draw against Lorient.

After being sidelined for several weeks amid an ongoing contract dispute Kylian Mbappe watched from the Parc des Princes stands.

But the club’s prize asset is now back in the fold, for the time being at least, said PSG on Sunday.

“After very constructive and positive discussions between Paris Saint-Germain and Kylian Mbappe before the PSG-Lorient match, the player was reinstated in first team training this morning,” PSG said in a statement.

After a summer of flux at the Parc des Princes filled with new arrivals, doubts over Neymar’s future and Messi’s departure, it is the Kylian Mbappe stand-off that dominated the headlines.

The France captain has refused to sign an extension to his PSG deal, meaning he can leave for free next year, with Real Madrid long seen as his preferred destination.

Qatari-owned PSG want to sell him now and bring in a significant transfer fee for a player who cost 180 million euros from Monaco in 2017.

“The position is very clear. If Kylian wants to stay, he must sign a new contract. We can’t let the best player in the world today leave for free. It’s impossible,” PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi said last month.

Kylian Mbappe had not been allowed to train with the first team and played only one of PSG’s five warm-up games and was not invited to the pre-season tour in Japan and South Korea.

He sat alongside fellow 2018 World Cup winner Ousmane Dembele, who completed his transfer from Barcelona earlier Saturday, as Luis Enrique handed debuts to six players against Lorient.

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French superstar Kylian Mbappe has been left out of Paris Saint-Germain’s season opener on Saturday deepening the stand-off between the France captain and the Ligue 1 champions.

As Mbappe’s contract dispute with the Qatari-backed club rumbles on PSG announced a new signing – Ousmane Dembele on a five-year deal from Barcelona.

He is the ninth summer arrival at a side which has lost Lionel Messi to Inter Miami, and may soon be facing up to life without Mbappe.

In an affair that has dominated transfer market headlines, Kylian Mbappe has refused to sign an extension to his PSG deal, meaning he can leave for free next year, with Real Madrid long seen as his preferred destination.

PSG want to sell him now and bring in a significant transfer fee for a player who cost 180 million euros ($198m) from Monaco in 2017.

“The position is very clear. If Kylian wants to stay, he must sign a new contract. We can’t let the best player in the world today leave for free. It’s impossible,” PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi said last month.

Kylian Mbappe has not been allowed train with the first team and played only one of PSG’s five warm-up games and was not invited to the pre-season tour in Japan and South Korea.

Despite his sidelining Mbappe was one of the first to welcome Dembele to the Parc des Princes.

“Welcome home my brother, so happy to see you here, the adventure begins,” Mbappe posted on social media to greet Dembele with whom he won the World Cup in 2018.

26-year-old Ousmane Dembele joined Barcelona in 2017 from Borussia Dortmund and extended his contract last year until 2024.

PSG took advantage of the player’s 50 million euros ($54 million) release clause to sign the former Rennes forward.

“I’m very happy to join Paris Saint-Germain and can’t wait to play in my new colours,” Dembele said in a PSG statement.

“I hope to continue to grow here and make all who love the club proud.”

Dembele, who has 37 caps for France and scored four goals, joins three other World Cup winners at PSG — Mbappe, Presnel Kimpembe and Lucas Hernandez.

He is the club’s ninth summer signing after defenders Milan Skriniar and Lucas Hernandez, midfielders Manuel Ugarte and Cher Ndour, forwards Marco Asensio, Lee Kang-in and Goncalo Ramos and goalkeeper Arnau Tenas.

At Barcelona, despite early problems adjusting to the Catalan side and injuries, Ousmane Dembele scored 40 goals in 185 matches, winning three league titles in 2018, 2019 and 2023 and two Spanish Cups 2018 and 2021.

PSG are bolstering their attacking options with the futures of Mbappe and also Neymar uncertain.

“The passion and determination shown by Ousmane when he joined PSG is fantastic and is the attitude required for all our players,” said Khelaifi.

“We are proud to have another French World Cup winner in Paris Saint-Germain at the moment to enter a new great era for our club.”

New PSG coach Luis Enrique also left out Brazilian Neymar from Saturday evening’s game with the forward suffering a “viral syndrome”.

The club are reported to be open to selling the former Barcelona star and Italian midfielder Marco Verratti, who has also not been called up against Lorient.

Enrique is expected to start three newcomers in attack – Lee, Portuguese Ramos and Spaniard Asensio.

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Kylian Mbappe was voted the Ligue 1 player of the season for the fourth successive time Sunday after helping Paris Saint-Germain win a record 11th French title.

The France star has scored 28 goals in the league this term and is on course to finish as the division’s top scorer for the fifth season running.

“It’s a pleasure, I always wanted to win, to write my name into the league’s history. But even with all the ambition I have I didn’t expect to win so quickly,” said Mbappe on receiving his award.

Kylian Mbappe, scorer of 40 goals this campaign, snubbed Real Madrid at the end of last season and signed a new three-year contract to stay with PSG.

According to reports, the 24-year-old‘s contract will run out next year unless he exercises an option to stay until 2025.

Asked about his future at the awards ceremony, Kylian Mbappe replied: “I will be here again next season.”

He is the first four-time winner of a prize first awarded in 1994, surpassing Zlatan Ibrahimovic who won the accolade on three occasions with PSG.

Franck Haise of Lens was named coach of the season after leading the club to second place and a return to Champions League football for the first time in two decades.

Lens goalkeeper Brice Samba was also honoured while Paris Saint-Germain left-back Nuno Mendes earned the best young player award.

He was one of four PSG players in the team of the season alongside Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Achraf Hakimi.

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PARIS: Neymar will miss his second straight game for Paris Saint-Germain after being ruled out of Saturday’s match at home to Toulouse because of a groin problem, the club announced.

The Brazilian has been receiving treatment and training individually this week. He sat out Wednesday’s 3-1 victory in Montpellier, in which Kylian Mbappe picked up a thigh injury.

Mbappe faces three weeks on the sidelines and will be unavailable for the first leg of PSG’s Champions League last-16 tie against Bayern Munich on February 14.

Neymar is expected to resume full training next week, as is Sergio Ramos who also came off against Montpellier after suffering a groin strain.

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PARIS: Lionel Messi scored in Paris Saint-Germain’s 2-0 win over Angers in Ligue 1 on Wednesday on his first appearance since leading Argentina to victory in the World Cup in Qatar.

Messi had been rested for PSG’s first three matches following the long break in the season caused by the World Cup but he returned to training in Paris a week ago and was back in the starting line-up for this game against Ligue 1’s bottom side.

The win, which came three and a half weeks after he captained Argentina to their World Cup final triumph on penalties against France in Qatar, saw PSG move six points clear at the top of the French table.

Neymar also started, having missed his team’s last two matches due to suspension and to undergo treatment on the ankle injury he suffered playing for Brazil at the World Cup.

Meanwhile Kylian Mbappe was rested for a second straight game having been afforded time off for a holiday in New York in the wake of his own World Cup campaign, which saw him score a hat-trick in the final but come out on the losing side.

Mbappe and Messi are expected to be reunited this weekend in Sunday’s match away to Rennes.

In the meantime the absence of the France star meant young striker Hugo Ekitike again started in the home attack at the Parc des Princes and he opened the scoring in the fifth minute from a Nordi Mukiele cross at the end of a move in which Messi also featured.

PSG were not at their sparkling best but Messi swept in his 13th club goal of the season to make it 2-0 with 17 minutes left.

Ekitike and Mukiele were again involved before Messi applied the finish. The goal was initially disallowed for offside but a VAR check allowed it to stand.

“Messi has recovered well. He is relaxed and in great shape physically, and with Leo the team looks different,” said coach Christophe Galtier.

Speaking to broadcaster Canal Plus, Galtier, who said he had come down with a fever during the game, added: “We are coming back off the World Cup so it is difficult for the players to find their reference points again.”

“We are all just getting used to playing together again and you could see at times that we lacked some of the connections between the players that we had more often before the World Cup.”

PSG extend lead over Lens 

It was a 10th straight league loss for Angers, while Galtier’s PSG team extended their lead at the top of the table as second-placed Lens were held to a 2-2 draw away at Strasbourg.

PSG’s unbeaten record this season had been ended in a 3-1 defeat away at Lens on New Year’s Day, but they bounced back to win 3-1 at third-tier Chateauroux in the French Cup at the weekend without any of their superstar attacking trio.

Lens are enjoying a fine season but could not get the better of struggling Strasbourg, who were playing their first game since the sacking of coach Julien Stephan.

Alexis Claude-Maurice put Lens ahead in Alsace only for Sanjin Prcic to equalise before Kevin Gameiro gave Strasbourg the lead.

Belgian international Lois Openda then made it 2-2 before the break, and there were no further goals.

Marseille are now just two points behind Lens in third place after a 2-0 win at Troyes, sealed thanks to goals by Chancel Mbemba and Jordan Veretout, the latter a member of France’s World Cup squad.

Rennes in fourth lost ground after having two men sent off before conceding in injury time to lose 2-1 away at Clermont.

Meanwhile fifth-placed Monaco drew 2-2 at Lorient, while Nice crushed Montpellier 6-1 in their first game since sacking coach Lucien Favre.

On-loan Arsenal forward Nicolas Pepe and England international midfielder Ross Barkley both scored twice for Nice.

Lyon and Lille drew 0-0 away at Nantes and Brest respectively, while there were also wins for Toulouse and Ajaccio.

PARIS: Lionel Messi will celebrate his World Cup triumph by agreeing to stay at Paris Saint-Germain, local media claimed Wednesday, as he attempts to steer the French side to an elusive Champions League title.

The 35-year-old, who led Argentina to victory in the World Cup final against France in Qatar last weekend, will pen a one-season extension to his current deal in the French capital which expires in the summer.

Le Parisian and RMC Sport reported that Messi will sit down with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and other top club officials when he returns after his World Cup break.

Messi joined PSG in 2021 on a two-season deal with an option for another year after having spent his entire professional career with Barcelona.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner collected four Champions League titles in 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015 in Spain as well as 10 La Liga crowns.

On Sunday, he inspired Argentina to a penalty shootout win over France in the World Cup final after the epic match had finished 3-3 in extra time.

Messi, named player of the tournament, scored twice in the game with PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe grabbing a hat-trick for France.

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PARIS: Kylian Mbappe will miss Paris Saint-Germain’s first Ligue 1 outing of the new season this weekend against Clermont with an adductor injury, his club said on Friday.

PSG announced that Mbappe had been left out of the squad that would travel to Clermont for Saturday’s game “due to pain in his adductor muscles” and will instead remain behind for treatment.

“A further update will be provided in 72 hours time.”

Mbappe already missed PSG’s 4-0 win over Nantes in the French season-opening Champions Trophy in Tel-Aviv, Israel last weekend due to a suspension carried over from the last campaign.

PSG begin their defence of the Ligue 1 title with a new coach, Christophe Galtier having taken over from the sacked Mauricio Pochettino.

Lionel Messi and Neymar, who both scored against Nantes, are in the squad along with new signings Vitinha, Hugo Ekitike and Nordi Mukiele.

However, there is no place for the Qatar-owned club’s most recent recruit, with Portuguese international midfielder Renato Sanches not featuring in the list of 21 players announced on Friday.

Sanches only arrived on Thursday from Lille for a reported fee of 15 million euros ($15.25m).

Galtier, who led Lille to the Ligue 1 title in 2021, said he was eager for the season to start.

“We do this job to compete and experience all the emotions,” Galtier admitted.

“Training sessions and interviews are one thing, but we live for competition.”

He added: “When PSG go away from home it is often the biggest game of the season for the home team and the stadiums are full.

“We want to start the season in the best possible manner.”

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