Mbappe return a frightening prospect
– An impatient Kylian Mbappe (right) is set to make his first start for Paris Saint-Germain in two months this weekend after a blistering return to form off the bench in the Champions League.
The French champions host Marseille at the Parc des Princes tomorrow night in what is no longer much of a rivalry on the field but remains one of the great grudge matches in Europe.
How Marseille would love to claim a first win over their bitter foes in almost a decade, but they will not look forward to the prospect of facing Mbappe.
The 20-year-old World Cup winner came on as a substitute and scored a rapid hat-trick in PSG’s 5-0 demolition of Club Brugge in Belgium on Tuesday.
He doubled his tally for the season in the process and showed why he felt he deserved to start for the first time since pulling up with a hamstring injury in a game against Toulouse in late August.
“I wanted to start. The coach made his decision and you have to accept it,” Mbappe said.
“I just wanted to come on and show that it is difficult to leave me
Paris
out of the side.”
Tuchel insisted he did not choose Mbappe in his starting line-up because he was protecting his star forward, who was this week named among the 30 nominees for this year’s Ballon d’Or – unlike his perennially injured team-mate Neymar.
The only doubt surrounds who will play alongside Mbappe in the PSG attack, although it certainly won’t be Neymar – he is out until mid-November.
Angel di Maria will be there after setting up four of his team’s five goals in midweek, while Mauro Icardi could again be preferred to Edinson Cavani after five goals in four games.
Le Classique took top billing in France in the 1990s when pay TV giant Canal Plus bought PSG and turned them into a competitor to the era’s dominant Marseille whose stars included Chris Waddle and Jean-Pierre Papin.
These days Ligue 1 is utterly dominated by the now Qatari-owned club from the capital. Marseille, along with everyone else, trail in their wake.
PSG ended last weekend five points clear at the top of the table and eight points better off than Marseille in fourth. –