"Anatomy of a crack". A day after seeing French director Justine Triet awarded a Palme d'Or for her film "Anatomy of a Fall", the title would fit well with the Parisian career of Kylian Mbappé, again distinguished at the traditional evening of the UNFP Trophies. This Sunday, under the eyes of Thierry Henry with whom he spent the evening, the PSG striker won another palm, that of best player of the season, for the fourth consecutive year. A historic performance that allows him to surpass another legend of the capital club, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, three times titled (2013, 2014, 2016).
Who else, than the world champion striker, to go, once again, to break the records? Who else, but this man starved by numbers, statistics, to come and write his name in the history books of football? Despite the half-hearted season of PSG, Mbappé has very regularly donned the costume of savior, carried at arm's length his club from August to June, from his first match against Montpellier to the epilogue that awaits him next Saturday at the Parc against Clermont. With his 28 goals on the clock, he intends to take advantage of this last day to get a new record: a fifth title of best artificer of Ligue 1 to become the equal of Jean-Pierre Papin.
Messi did not move
Also in contention for the trophy for the best player, his teammate Lionel Messi had to settle for a place in the typical team of the season. His 16 goals and 16 assists did not allow him to claim more and the Argentine, world champion that he is, had understood it well since he was the only Parisian named not to have made the trip to the Pavillon Gabriel, preferring to attend the Coldplay concert in Barcelona.
If the heads of the PSG players present were in Paris, their thoughts were mainly turned to Spain and more precisely to Andalusia, where their teammate Sergio Rico is currently hospitalized. Despite the smiles of façade, the time was not frankly to celebrate among the employees and players of the club of the capital, shocked by the news. "I wanted to say that Sergio Rico is having a very difficult time right now. We are all with him, said Nuno Mendes as he went for his title of best hope of the season. The whole team is very concerned. We hope that everything will go well and that he will come back with us very soon. »
Emotion also won the room during the ovation it reserved for Jean-Michel Aulas, who presented the trophies to the players of D1 Arkema. As a nice nod to the work undertaken by the former president of OL for women's football.
The other big winner of the evening is obviously the Racing Club de Lens. Runner-up of PSG and author of a historic season with a direct qualification in the Champions League to the key, the artesian club won at the applause meter on the red carpet of the Pavillon Gabriel, before being honored on stage. Franck Haise, conductor of the Lensois collective, logically won the title of best coach in Ligue 1. Goalkeeper of the best defense of the elite, Brice Samba has meanwhile gleaned the trophy of best goalkeeper which crowns an exceptional season.