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Six excerpts from Kylian Mbappe’s interview on French TV

Rachel015 mins


Kylian Mbappe has hit back at his start to life at Real Madrid, opened up about his relationship with Lionel Messi after the 2022 World Cup final and said he hopes former club Paris Saint-Germain win the Champions League.

In an extensive French television broadcast, Mbappe, who agreed a £128million move to Madrid in the summer after seven years at PSG, said he watches every game with his former club and expressed his desire to return to international action, having been named France captain, but missed their last two camps.

The 25-year-old PSG’s all-time top scorer also discussed what he told PSG owner and Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani when news first broke in February that he would be leaving the French champions.

Here are six things we learned from Mbappe’s revealing interview.

The World Cup final brought Pape and Messi closer

In one of the greatest games of all time, Argentina led France 2-0 with 10 minutes remaining in the last World Cup final before Mbappe scored twice in less than two minutes to force extra time.

Messi, who had scored the opening goal, scored again in the 108th minute, only to send the game to penalties by completing his hat-trick two minutes from time.

The pair scored the first penalties of the proceedings as Argentina cruised to a 4-2 victory and gave Messi his due when they reunited in PSG training ahead of the start of the 2022/23 season.

“I was mad as hell, but you respect it because it’s Messi,” said Mbappe, speaking to Canal+, via RMC. “We broke the ice by laughing together because we had a fight. We made memories from the final. I think this final brought us closer.”

Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi joined Paris Saint-Germain in August 2021 after leaving Barcelona. Messi and Mbappe shared a direct hand in 34 goals in the 67 games they played together, winning Ligue 1 twice.

Mbappe’s “love” for France “hasn’t changed”

Mbappe admitted he was “tired” at Euro 2024, where he missed France’s 0-0 draw with the Netherlands in their second leg after breaking his nose in their opening 1-0 win against Austria.

France were knocked out by eventual champions Spain in the semi-finals, with Mbappe’s only goal coming in a 1-1 group draw with Poland. He has played twice since then and was not involved in the Nations League squads in October and November.

“My love for the French team has not changed. ” said Mbappe, who needs 10 more goals to become Les Bleus’ all-time top scorer. “Yes, I miss it, because it’s been a long time since I’ve been there.

“In September, I asked the coach (Didier Deschamps) not to go. I had just arrived in Madrid. I had a very short vacation. The coach insisted that I come. it didn’t go very well. But it’s still the French team.”

Bape said he had been lied to and blamed for “certain failures” at Euro 2020, in which Spain lost to Switzerland in the round of 16.

“I always put the French team first,” he added. “I did everything to represent them as best as I could. (break) my nose. And people tell you they don’t care about the French team.”

“Not the best start” at Real Madrid

Madrid initially tried to sign Mbappe before he left Monaco in 2017, initially joining PSG on a season-long loan as part of a £145m deal that made him the second most expensive player in history.

PSG rejected a second bid of £137m for Mbappe in August 2021 but, after his contract expired, the Spanish champions finally achieved their goal by giving him a deal in June until 2029.

Mbappe contributed 44 goals and 10 assists for PSG last season but has been less prolific in his first 21 games for Madrid, scoring 11 goals and creating two. He currently has four games without a goal in the Champions League.

“It’s not the best start to the season, but we’re preparing for the trophies that will count,” Mbappe said. “It’s not what we expected, but at Real we expect in the second half of the season. That’s when you will be judged.

“I always dreamed of Real Madrid. I didn’t know when or how, but I knew I was going to play here. The day before my presentation, there was a three-hour briefing – I had to translate for my mother and father.

“It was tiring. The next day, you have your first human contact with the kids, I met the coach (Carlo Ancelotti). Then. we go to the Bernabeu… the audience welcomes you like a king.”

PSG fans ‘deserve’ Champions League glory

Bape said reports that the Emir of Qatar wanted to prevent him from going to Madrid were unfounded. “I’m in the car and news is coming out that the Emir of Qatar is going to make an unacceptable offer to stay at PSG,” he explained.

“He told me: ‘You see, they think I’m going to propose to you, but you’ve decided to leave and I respect your decision. You want to fulfill your dream of going to Real Madrid, thank you for everything.” That touched me. I told him, “I will give my best until the end of the season.”

A six-time French champion and 2020/21 Champions League finalist with Paris, Mbappe called the club “a super intense place, for better or worse” and described his time there as “excellent”.

“Maybe the mistake I made was that I messed it all up,” he thought. “I had clashes with people, I was defending my rights as a player, but that didn’t represent the club.

“I never mixed it all up with the players, the people on campus, the staff. With the fans, I could have been more expressive. They say Kylian doesn’t care. They think it was a hobby before they went to Madrid.

“I still watch PSG matches. I know the club by heart. When they lose, I know how hard it is. I have always kept this relationship with PSG. It is a relationship that cannot be broken like this.

“I hope one day, they will win (the Champions League) because the fans, the people who suffer every day there, deserve some happiness anyway. But not now, because I have to earn a little. I’m at the best club in the world. There is nothing more.”

“Misunderstanding” for references to Sweden

Following media reports linking his name to a rape investigation in Sweden in October, Mbappe took to social media to dismiss the coverage as “fake news”.

Mbappe’s lawyers called the reports libelous. Deschamps also said his exclusion from the France squad next month was not linked to the reports.

“I was surprised,” Mbappe said. “I’m always amazed: these are things that happen and you don’t see them coming. I got nothing, no call. I read the same thing as everyone else. The Swedish government said nothing. I don’t care… it’s just a misunderstanding. It didn’t weigh me down because I never felt anxious.

“There’s a lot of noise, but I’ve always had the same intention, which is to focus on my work and see how it ends. When I’m on the plane, I have the information. I have no idea who (the complainant) is. If the justice system calls me, I’ll just walk away.”

Bape was in Sweden after Madrid gave him time to rest. “It wasn’t even a night out,” she said. “I had five days off, I decided to leave.

“I should have gone somewhere else, but the coach told me to go somewhere less exposed. It was going well and I was relaxed. Before I leave, there’s this picture of me leaving (a) restaurant. There was a lot of people ready to welcome me for the departure, a lot of journalists.”

The media “must talk” about Mbappe

Mbappe has spoken about the pressure he is under to be in the media spotlight. “If you’re a star, people talk about you if you don’t talk,” he said.

“That’s why I’m talking today. Every day, there’s something, even though I haven’t given interviews. I don’t speak. I think it comes from the fact that we have to talk about Kylian at all costs.

“I wrote my story in Paris, I think I did many things well, but not well. I made people dream, I broke records, I won titles, I gave emotions.

“You discover a new context, a new club (Madrid), climate, environment. You open all your senses. It’s more about observation. I will succeed here.

“Young people shouldn’t dream that it’s me, because the goal of a dream is to have no limits. I didn’t dream of anyone – I dreamed of being great.”



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