It’s been two weeks since Paris Saint-Germain fell to FC Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League final. Kylian Mbappé interviewed with Téléfoot to reflect on the match and the impact it will have on the capital club, despite them losing.
Before diving into the interview, Mbappé provides a status update on his ankle, which he injured against Sweden while playing for the French National Team in a UEFA Nations League match.
“It’s going a little better, I’m still in pain, but I think it will be like that for many weeks. It does not recover like that. It was a special context, I wanted to play in the Champions League at all costs and close my eyes,” Mbappé said.
“The medical staff at the club took care of me so that I could be on my feet. And now, the more the days go by, the better it will be. We have to wait. It’s a matter of time. We must not make up for time, so we’ll see. I try to be as decisive as possible, even less.”
Mbappé then discusses the Champions League final loss and how he digested losing the first final of his professional career, considering he’s already won a FIFA World Cup.
“It is necessary, it is sad and difficult to say, but it is unfortunately and fortunately our life. When you win the World Cup (in 2018, editor’s note), you come back to the club, and you have to forget,” Mbappé said.
There, we lose the Champions League, we must also forget, it’s a new season. Of course, it was an incredible disappointment, but it’s the job that wants that, you have to move on, not have feelings, and be focused on the new season.”
The French media outlet asks him about any regrets in that final against Bayern Munich. The 21-year-old highlighted the missed scoring chances as something he looks back on, knowing that the squad that scored first would win the game.
“Of course, we have regrets. We had chances, and I had a chance (just before the break, editor’s note). We could have scored because we knew that the team that would score first could win. In matches like this, there is no big score. But that’s how it is, it’s football, and you have to get over it,” Mbappé said.
“Lots of teams lost a final and won the year after. You have to be positive and recruit well because I think it will be important. We have to buy players, but we’ll see how it goes. There are people who do their job, and I hope that we will have good recruits to restart the season with the objective of doing better than last season.”
Finally, Mbappé discussed how, despite the loss, it helped PSG’s profile grow, and now the rest of Europe does indeed have to put them as serious contenders for the Champions League.
“Obviously, PSG grew up with this C1 final . I think there was a blockage. It had been nine years since he had passed the quarter-finals. There was this blockage even if we did not want to show it too much on the outside. And there, we broke that, and we saw what had to be done. Now we have to keep this momentum going, but I think we are on the right track,” Mbappé said.
“Do you think that PSG will end up winning the C1? Of course, we have to because if we don’t believe it, no one is going to believe it for us. But there is no problem. There is quality. We have created a collective. Now there are some adjustments to be made. The Champions League are details. We lost on details, and now we must not neglect those details.”
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