Kylian Mbappé (24) was left visibly frustrated by Paris Saint-Germain’s decision to play for a draw in the dying stages of their UEFA Champions League tie against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday night.
PSG were reacting to scores elsewhere when they took their foot off the accelerator. After going behind to a Karim Adeyemi goal, Warren Zaïre-Emery equalised for Les Parisiens. However, the Ligue 1 club’s progression was on a knife-edge with Newcastle United drawing against AC Milan. A goal for the Premier League side would have dumped PSG out of the competition, and as a result, Luis Enrique’s side pushed for a winner.
However, with AC Milan getting a late goal, PSG could have been dumped out of the competition if they lost against Dortmund. The Serie A side would have advanced at their expense. As a result, Luis Enrique gave the instruction to his players to protect the draw. Les Parisiens therefore opted to retain possession and not take unnecessary risks.
Luis Enrique instructed his PSG players to take ‘fewer risks’
“In the 85th minute, with Milan’s win securing our qualification, I told my players to take fewer risks. Our objective was to finish first, but finishing second in this difficult group is a success,” said Luis Enrique post-match.
However, this decision visibly irritated Mbappé, who midway through the second half thought he had given PSG the lead, only for his finish to be ruled out by VAR for a tight offside. Luis Enrique’s instructions to “take fewer risks” were relayed by certain players and upon receiving the instructions, the France captain was visibly unhappy.
Mbappé sits alone on bus
That frustration was once again visible at full-time, even though Mbappé did go over and greet the travelling away fans at the Signal Iduna Park. Luis Enrique admitted Mbappé’s frustration post-match. “It is normal that the players are frustrated. We had five chances to score – five! We would have been a bit stupid to have conceded a goal in the 85th minute. When a player is frustrated, it is my job to manage this risk-taking, this tension,” he said.
According to Canal Plus, Mbappé quickly made his way through the mixed zone and onto the PSG team bus. He sat alone for a few minutes before any of his teammates joined him.
