Mbappe and PSG set for Club WC reunion as Real eye final
Mbappe should be remembered as a PSG legend, having spent seven prolific campaigns there and eventually departing as their all-time top scorer with 256 goals in 308 games.
But his legacy was a little tainted by the manner of his departure, the sense among many that for the last half of his time in Paris he was just waiting for the right moment to move to Madrid, the club he had dreamed of representing as a young boy.
PSG, under their Qatari president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, were not happy with the way in which Mbappe chose to run down his contract in order to sign for Real in 2024, denying them a transfer fee.
A bitter legal dispute has gone on between the parties for much of the time since, with Mbappe claiming he is owed 55 million euros ($64.4 million) in unpaid wages and bonuses from his spell in Paris. The latest twist came just this week, when one of Mbappe's lawyers told AFP that the France captain had withdrawn a complaint of moral harassment against his former employers.
That was after the Paris prosecutor's office revealed last month that an investigation had been opened following a complaint by the player over the way he was treated by PSG in the summer of 2023.
He believes he was sidelined by PSG and made to train with players the club were looking to offload after refusing to agree a new contract.
Mbappe missed a pre-season tour to Japan and the start of the next campaign before eventually being reintegrated into Luis Enrique's squad.
All of that should have been behind Mbappe long ago, given the way his first season at Real has gone on a personal level.
The 26-year-old, a World Cup winner in 2018, scored 43 goals in 56 matches for his new club across all competitions up to the end of the campaign in La Liga, a remarkable tally.
However, Mbappe has endured frustration at the Club World Cup, not featuring at all during the group stage due to a stomach bug which led to him requiring hospital treatment.
In his absence, young forward Gonzalo Garcia has made the step up in impressive fashion, starting all five matches in the United States and scoring four goals.
The last of those was the opener in the 3-2 quarter-final win over Borussia Dortmund at the MetLife Stadium on Saturday, but it was Mbappe who got what was ultimately the deciding goal.
He came off the bench midway through the second half and scored a brilliant, acrobatic overhead kick for Real's third of the afternoon in stoppage time.
'He is still not perfect, not 100 percent, but he is getting better every day,' Alonso said of Mbappe after that match.
'Now he will have three days to keep progressing and feeling better ahead of the semi-final.'
It is hard to imagine Mbappe not getting his first start of the tournament against PSG, the club who won the Champions League in the season following his departure after so many years of disappointment in Europe with him in the team.
PSG came to the US fresh from crushing Inter Milan 5-0 in the Champions League final.
They reached the last four with a 2-0 win over Bayern Munich in Atlanta in the last eight — despite having Willian Pacho and Lucas Hernandez sent off — and need not fear Real.
'It doesn't matter who we play in the semi-finals. All that matters is that we are there and that we want to get to the final,' said Luis Enrique, for whom this is also a special occasion given that he spent five years at Madrid as a player in the 1990s.
Alonso has just taken over as Real coach after an outstanding spell with Bayer Leverkusen and has already displayed great tactical flexibility, flitting between a back four and a three-man central defence at the tournament.
It will be fascinating to see which system he opts for here, and if Mbappe starts as he prepares to play against PSG for the first time since July 2017, when he was still a thrilling teenager at Monaco.
Agence France-Presse
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gulf Today
a day ago
- Gulf Today
Top seed Fritz stumbles as Rybakina and Fernandez win at DC Open
US top seed Taylor Fritz dropped an early on Saturday morning marathon to Spain's Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina while Britain's Emma Raducanu and Canada's Leylah Fernandez reached the semi-finals of the ATP and WTA DC Open. World number four Fritz, two points from victory in the ninth game, dropped the last five games in defeat to the 26th-ranked Spaniard 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 7-5 after three hours and five minutes in a match ending just before 2:00 am. Davidovich-Fokina advanced to the semi-final against US fourth seed Ben Shelton, who beat sixth-seeded hometown hero Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (7/2), 6-4. Fritz, who had 20 aces and six double faults, served for the match in the ninth and was up 30-0 but lost, then failed to take advantage of three double faults by Davidovich-Fokina in the 10th game. The other men's semi-final will send French lucky loser Corentin Moutet against Australian seventh seed Alex De Minaur, who eliminated American Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 6-4. Moutet withstood leg cramps to eliminate eighth seed Daniil Medvedev 1-6, 6-4, 6-4. 'I tried to survive every point because it was hard physically,' Moutet said after fighting off leg cramps. 'I'm just proud of myself.' Raducanu reached the brink of her first WTA final since winning the 2021 US Open, ousting Greece's Maria Sakkari 6-4, 7-5. And Fernandez, whom Raducanu beat in that Flushing Meadows championship match, reached the other semi-final by dispatching American Taylor Townsend 6-4, 7-6 (7/4). Raducanu, who missed most of 2023 after hand and ankle surgery and part of last year with a left foot injury, reached her first WTA semi-final since last year at Nottingham by dispatching Sakkari in sweltering conditions of 95F (35C). 'It was one of the toughest matches conditions-wise I've ever played in,' Raducanu said. 'Those points in the second set, I was getting a bit wobbly I'm just happy I could close it out and it was two sets. 'I think the humidity here, as well, it just makes it feel completely like you have just opened an oven and it just stayed open and your head is in there. That's how it feels.' Left-hander Fernandez overcame leg cramps in the second set in advancing to face third seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who beat Polish fifth seed Magdalena Frech 6-3, 6-3. Raducanu will next face Anna Kalinskaya, who defeated Danish fourth seed Clara Tauson 6-3, 7-5. Raducanu, Britain's first women's Grand Slam singles champion since Virginia Wade in 1977 at Wimbledon, beat four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in the second round before downing Sakkari after a medical timeout in the second set. 'Brutal conditions. Right in the peak heat of the day. It was incredibly difficult,' Raducanu said. 'I had to call a doctor on. Wasn't feeling too good in the second set. 'When it's at that stage you know you're going to suffer and you have to just go until you physically can't anymore. It could be a little dangerous but you just leave it all out there on the court as an athlete.' Raducanu rallied to win the final five games of the match, calling it a 'big benchmark' to reach the semis. 'You get to a point where you're so tired that you don't really know what you're doing anymore, and I think maybe that helped,' Raducanu said. Fernandez called it a 'good steppingstone' to reach the semis, fight off leg cramps to break Townsend on her eighth chance in the 10th game to reach 5-5 on the way to victory. 'It was definitely an adventure,' Fernandez said. 'This was the first time I've had to go through this. I'm proud I was able to stay mentally tough.' Agencies
Gulf Today
a day ago
- Gulf Today
England seek revenge against Spain as rivals meet in Euro final
England are aiming to retain their title and avenge defeat at the hands of Aitana Bonmati's Spain in the Women's World Cup final of two years ago when the rivals meet again on Sunday to decide who will win Euro 2025. The showdown at St Jakob-Park in the Swiss city of Basel promises to be a fascinating contest between a Spain side looking to add the continental crown to their world title, and an England team who can secure back-to-back European Championship victories, and make up for the heartache of 2023 in the process. Spain beat England 1-0 in Sydney to win the World Cup for the first time, with Olga Carmona scoring the only goal -- another victory for La Roja on Sunday would cement their status as the dominant force in women's international football. 'We have so much respect for them and the quality they have, but we also believe in ourselves, that we can really step up,' said England's Ella Toone on Friday. Toone, 25, scored the first goal for the Lionesses when they beat Germany 2-1 after extra time at Wembley to win the last Women's Euros three years ago, and has played a key role in Switzerland on their run to a third straight major tournament final. 'It is amazing. To make three consecutive finals for England is something that we can all be so proud of,' she said at the team's base in Zurich. That remarkable run has come under the management of Sarina Wiegman, the Dutch coach who took charge in 2021 and immediately turned them into contenders. 'She is a great manager, someone we all have a lot of belief in and we know we are in good hands. It is an unbelievable achievement for her,' added Toone of Wiegman, who also won the Euros with her native Netherlands in 2017. It has not been an easy road to the final for England this time, with the Lionesses coming back from the brink of elimination more than once. Their title defence started with a 2-1 defeat by France in their opening group game three weeks ago. The Lionesses recovered to reach the knockout stages by hammering the Netherlands and Wales, but then required a remarkable comeback from two goals down to eventually beat Sweden on penalties in the quarter-finals. They then trailed to Italy in the semi-finals in Geneva until a 96th-minute goal by Michelle Agyemang forced extra time, and Chloe Kelly scored the winner just as another shoot-out loomed. 'The belief in the squad, the resilience and the togetherness in this group is just so special,' said Kelly, who has made a big impact from the bench in the last two rounds. But it remains to be seen if that resilience will be enough against a brilliant Spain side led by reigning Ballon d'Or Bonmati. The Barcelona midfielder -- who was in hospital with viral meningitis just before the tournament started -- scored the extra-time winner as Spain edged Germany in the last four to reach a first ever European Championship final. 'All the hard work we have put in has paid off,' said coach Montse Tome, who took over from Jorge Vilda following the 2023 World Cup triumph. Spain could have as many as seven starters on Sunday who featured in that game in Sydney, including Alexia Putellas -- she was only a bit-part player at the World Cup as she recovered from a knee injury, but Bonmati's predecessor as Ballon d'Or winner has been much more influential here. The theme of revenge could also apply to the Spaniards, who were knocked out of the last Euros by England, going down in extra time in the quarter-finals. Just two months ago an Arsenal side featuring several members of Wiegman's current England squad defeated Barcelona in the final of the Women's Champions League. Seven of the players who started for Barcelona that day in Lisbon are likely to start for Spain on Sunday, including Bonmati and Putellas. If they come out on top they will be the first nation to win the Women's World Cup and Euros back-to-back since Germany in 2007 and 2009, and they can also follow in the footsteps of their men's counterparts -- Spain beat England in the final of the men's Euro last year. Agencies
Int'l Cricket Council
3 days ago
- Int'l Cricket Council
Veteran India batter announces international retirement
While announcing her retirement, Krishnamurthy also added that she was ready to give back to the game. "From a small-town girl with big dreams to wearing the India jersey with pride. Grateful for everything cricket gave me the lessons, the people, the memories. It's time to say goodbye to playing, but not to the game. Always for India. Always for the team," Krishnamurthy said in her post. In her retirement post she also wrote about how she felt proud to be a part of the team in 2017 - a remarkable year for women's cricket in India, when the team reached the ICC Women's World Cup final at Lord's. "Nothing comes close to the feeling of wearing that jersey. The anthem, the adrenaline, the pride - it lives in your bones forever. a year. To be a part of a World Cup that changed how people saw Women's Cricket in India I will always be proud of that."
