Special envoy to Lisbon
Friends, enemies, comrades in arms… Several Parisian and Bavarian players will find well-known faces in the opposite camp this Sunday, in the final of the Champions League, at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon. A reunion that will be tasty for some, much less for others ...
Neymar and Coutinho, childhood friends
Partners in Seleçao, friends in the city, Neymar and Coutinho will not be less adversaries this Sunday, in the final of the Champions League. Two particularly close players, “childhood friends” as the Bavarian, designated successor of “Ney” at Barça, with Ousmane Dembélé has already told. Succession which obviously did not go as planned ... The proof with this loan in Bavaria for the former Liverpool. Still, the two players have known each other in the U16 selection. They never left each other again. We talked for a while about Coutinho at PSG, to… succeed Neymar, when the Parisian number 10 wanted to return to Barcelona. Eventually he stayed, and Coutinho left for Munich.
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Hernandez, Mbappé, Pavard… Companions in arms
The French team will be well represented in Lisbon. And the sacred group in Russia two years ago in particular. There are indeed three world champions in the Bavarian ranks (Hernandez, Tolisso, Pavard) and two on the Parisian side (Mbappé, Kimpembe). Kingsley Coman would have liked to be there, he was not invited by Didier Deschamps… The former Parisian could, perhaps, console himself with a C1. "It is not linked," he corrected in recent days at a press conference. The disappointment of not having participated in the World Cup is long gone. " Failing to be world champion, Coman is international. The opportunity to give some tips ... Especially about Kylian Mbappé. “I've played with him a few times, so I know him a bit. I'll try to give some advice, he slips. It's like when we played against Messi: we hope he plays the poorest game possible and we will make sure to put them under pressure so that he has the fewest balls. "
Persic to Icardi: "Tell your wife to stop talking about me"
From 2013 to 2019, Mauro Icardi will have made the heyday of Inter Milan. Although, the love affair between the Nerazzurri and the Argentine striker turned sour at the end ... This is why Leonardo and PSG were able to welcome him last summer, on loan with option of 'purchase. Option lifted this summer. Leaders, supporters, teammates: he has turned his back on almost everyone in Lombardy. Wanda Icardi is no stranger to it ... And it is precisely the words of the wife and agent of Icardi which strained relations between Ivan Perisic, on loan from Inter to Bayern last summer, which made a difference. water in the gas between the two players. Wanda Icardi had mentioned, on Italian TV, "personal problems" between her husband and the Croatian international. The latter had only moderately appreciated: "Tell your wife to stop talking about me on television," he would have launched, according to certain transalpine sources. Not sure that the two former Inter meet again with pleasure this Sunday.
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Kimpembe / Coman, the titis
Presnel Kimpembe and Kinsgley Coman know each other well. And for good reason, they are both Parisians, both trained at PSG. The first named chose to continue in Paris. He also recently extended. The second is gone… even before playing his first pro game. 2014, he took the road to Juventus, before joining Bayern in 2017. "I am in contact quite regularly with Presnel, even if we have not yet spoken since yesterday, he said last Thursday, the day after the qualification of Bayern against OL (3-0). Of course, we'll call each other to start the debates in private (smile). ” Note that Coman will not make a feeling. Certainly, it is "a very beautiful thing" to be opposed to his training club, but the 24-year-old Seine-et-Marnais promises that he does not "really think about (his) past at PSG. Currently, my heart is 100% Bayern. ” Note that the titi Tanguy Kouassi, passed from Paris to Bayern this summer, is not qualified for the "Final 8".
And also : Idrissa Gueye and Benjamin Pavard rubbed shoulders at LOSC in 2014-15, like Ander Herrera and Javi Martínez in Bilbao (2011-12) and Keylor Navas and Alvaro Odriozola , at Real Madrid (2018-19). The Bavarian Leon Goretzka has meanwhile evolved with three current PSG players in Germany, and more precisely at Schalke 04, Julian Draxler (2013-15), the unlikely hero of quarterback Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (2014-17) and Thilo Kehrer (2016-18). Many players from both teams also meet regularly in selection.
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