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‘We played like beginners’ – Mbappe slams PSG

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Kylian Mbappe of PSG
  • Post published:April 15, 2019

Kylian Mbappe slammed Paris Saint-Germain’s performance in a 5-1 defeat to Lille on Sunday, saying the reigning champions ‘played like beginners.’

PSG went into the match away against second-place Lille, knowing a draw would be enough to secure a second title in two seasons.

Injuries to Thiago Silva and Thomas Meunier early on did not help matters, nor did a red card to Juan Bernat to reduce PSG to 10 men before the end of the half.

While it was 1-1 at the break, the bottom fell out in the second half for the champions-elect, as Nicolas Pepe, Jonathan Bamba, Gabriel and Jose Fonte all scored to send PSG to a humiliating defeat, and put any coronation as Ligue 1 champions on hold until Wednesday at the earliest.

Mbappe, who assisted with PSG’s only goal of the day, held a sobering assessment of the performance after the match, noting that while the club will eventually win Ligue 1, they do not want to get routed like that.

‘It went from box to box, from one side to the other,’ Mbappe told Canal+. ‘We were mastering the situation at times, but at other times…

‘We’ll be champion eventually, but when you lose you have to lose in a certain way.

‘You do not want to lose personality like that, by three, four, five. That was not normal.’

Mbappe congratulated Lille for the performance, but ultimately blamed his team’s ‘lack of personality’ and delivered the harsh assessment that PSG ‘played like beginners.’

‘Lille is a good team, so congratulations to them,’ Mbappe added. ‘They have nice fans, a beautiful stadium, but we have to play with more personality, it’s one of our faults. I think, we’ll have to fix it quickly. It really is nothing else.

‘Football is played on a field. Today we played like beginners.

‘We must regain focus, there is a game Wednesday, but I think we must stop losing like that. ‘

Despite the setback, PSG still hold a 17-point advantage over Lille at the summit of the Ligue 1 table, with only 18 points possible left for Lille. PSG hold a +41 edge in goal difference ahead of Wednesday’s meeting with Nantes.