Nice-PSG: with Kylian Mbappé, Paris is again on the attack

We will not go so far as to say that the Covid-19 has not weakened it.

But, frankly, we tended to forget this Sunday at the Allianz Arena that Kylian Mbappé was coming out of an illness that kept him in isolation for seven days and away from competition for two weeks.

Ask Youcef Atal, the Nice right-back, if he has ever had the impression of facing a suffering player.

Martyred, sickened by the acceleration of the Parisian striker, the Algerian international, hit in a thigh, ended up throwing the glove in the second half.

It must be said that Mbappé did not spare it with two small bridges which are only a small glimpse of the capital performance of the world champion.

Let's face it, if Paris has undoubtedly launched its season on the Côte d'Azur, the French champion owes it largely to his young 21-year-old striker.

Of course, Keylor Navas in the goal or Angel Di Maria in the field have their part in this large success (3-0).

But Mbappé allowed PSG to regain the efficiency that had been sorely lacking since the start of the championship with only one goal scored in three games, before this meeting.

"Kylian had a very, very good match, he showed that he can always make the difference with his speed, his acceleration, his confidence and his hunger to score," said his coach Thomas Tuchel who did not not really hesitated when starting the Bondynois.

We imagined a tribute a little more supported for a player who had only a real training before this return to competition.

But the German is rarely dithyrambic with his prodigy.

81 goals in Ligue 1

As if all this sequence: the injury to the right ankle this summer, the coronavirus in September, then this return with fanfare was normal for a player accustomed to skipping steps and breaking all the precocity records one by one.

With 81 goals now scored in Ligue 1, he dominates with his head and broad shoulders the ranking of French under 22 scorers over the last 70 seasons ahead of Hervé Revelli and his… 62 achievements.

This allows us to measure the incredible performance of a player who had not scored with PSG in competition since March 4.

As Mbappé leaves nothing to chance, he had prepared his shot.

T-shirt in hand with the inscription “Courage Juanito” inscribed in Spanish, he dedicated his first goal from a penalty kick to Juan Bernat, who had a cruciate ligament surgery on his left knee next week.

"I was happy to put on the jersey and help the team instead of being in front of my TV," reacted the French world champion, all smiles, after the meeting.

"We must never let him turn around with speed"

For Mbappé, salvation came from the left.

By dint of surveying this corridor, after the tactical reorganization of PSG following Idrissa Gueye's injury exit, number 7 has opened up its possibilities.

And that of his team.

By systematically transplanting the ball to the center, he destabilized the Nice defense and forced it either to make mistakes or to leave it too much room for maneuver.

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“We must never let Kylian Mbappé turn around with speed, we must attack him as soon as he takes the ball, railed the Nice man Morgan Schneiderlin after the meeting.

We worked on that in training, it's our fault.

Result, he is on two of the three Parisian goals.

With a little more pace, we can guess that he could have registered one or two more.

Like what, Mbappé also has its limits.