French striker Kylian Mbappe was benched for the third time for PSG in Ligue 1, as he was not brought on in the 3-1 comeback victory against Lille in round 21 on February 10th.
His two previous appearances as a substitute came in his first season at PSG, when he sat out the matches against Nantes in November 2017 and Monaco in April 2018.
After the victory against Lille, when asked about the decision not to use Mbappe, coach Luis Enrique replied: "We didn't want to take any risks. It wouldn't make any sense. If today were the final, Mbappe would have played."
Forward Kylian Mbappe (center) sits on the bench during PSG's 3-1 comeback victory against Lille in Round 21 of Ligue 1 at the Parc des Princes in Paris on February 10. Photo: AFP
The Spanish coach emphasized the importance of rotation ahead of PSG's first leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Sociedad on February 14th. "When you play a match every three days, the goal is to control the number of minutes," Enrique said. "We want most of the players to get playing time. They are very competitive and have a high intensity."
Without Mbappe, PSG got off to a shaky start, conceding a goal in the 6th minute. Tiago Santos beat Marco Asensio on the right wing and crossed the ball into the penalty area. The PSG defender failed to clear it properly, allowing striker Yusuf Yazici to receive the ball near the goal and fire it past Keylor Navas.
Dembele (number 10) passes the ball during PSG's 3-1 victory over Lille on February 10th. Photo: AFP
In the 17th minute, Ribeiro made another mistake when he missed Fabian Ruiz's cross, sending the ball into his own net. The goal was counted as an own goal by the Lille defender.
PSG then maintained the pressure and found the winning goal in the 80th minute. Substitute striker Bradley Barcola broke through on the left wing and crossed the ball to Randal Kolo Muani, who tapped it into an empty net. Barcola and Muani were both signed by PSG in the summer of 2023, for fees of $48 million from Lyon and $90 million from Frankfurt, respectively.
The 3-1 victory helped PSG solidify their position at the top of Ligue 1 with 50 points, 11 points ahead of Nice. In the next round on February 17th, the Parisian club will visit Nantes, who are currently 14th with 19 points.
Starting lineup :
PSG : Navas, Mukiele, Lucas Hernandez (Hakimi 69), Danilo, Beraldo, Ruiz (Vitinha 62), Ugarte, Asensio, Dembele (Barcola 62), Ramos (Zaire Emery 74), Kolo Muani
Lille : Chevalier, Santos, Yoro, Alexsandro Ribeiro, Ismaily, Bentaleb, Andre (Jonathan David 67), Zhegrova (Ounas 67), Angel Gomes, Gudmundsson (Cabella 67), Yazici (Haraldsson 81)
Hong Duy
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