Kylian Mbappe admitted Paris Saint-Germain “failed in a few things” in defeat to AC Milan and dodged a question on their Champions League chances
The Parisians succumbed to their second away defeat in the Champions League this season as they went down to the Serie A giants by a 2-1 margin on Tuesday evening. After Milan Skriniar handed them the lead, Stefano Pioli’s troops hit back through Rafael Leao and Olivier Giroud to pick up the three points. Mbappe, who had not spoken to the media since June, had no qualms in admitting that PSG were second-best to Milan.
“It is a defeat, a second defeat away from home, it is never easy to lose, we are disappointed. We failed in quite a few things and we will try to respond at home against Newcastle,” the forward told reporters after the match.
When pressed on the reasons for PSG’s struggles away from home, he replied: “I don’t know, I don’t know (regarding the difficulties away from home). We are disappointed, we tried to put all the ingredients on our side to win, but it didn’t happen like that.”
PSG are yet to win the Champions League and their obsession with the European trophy is well documented. Club president Nasser Al-Kheliafi strung together an enviable forward line comprising of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Mbappe to realise the unfulfilled dream of becoming European champions but his efforts failed to reap dividends in the two years that the trio played together.
Mbappe was asked if he thinks that the current PSG side, which includes summer reinforcements such as Goncalo Ramos, Ousmane Dembele, Marco Asensio and Skriniar, can still achieve Champions League glory in 2023-24, but the 2018 World Cup winner refused to answer the question and redirected the focus to their next game against Newcastle.
“The first objective is to win the next game against Newcastle. That is the most important thing right now,” he said.
PSG will return to action against Reims in Ligue 1 on Saturday, followed by another domestic fixture against AS Monaco on November 24. They will host Newcastle United on November 28 at the Parc des Princes on matchday five in the Champions League.
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