Mbappe out to end European drought

LEIPZIG, Germany－Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig meet once again in the Champions League this week with the pressure on Kylian Mbappe to deliver after a run of poor form in front of goal in Europe.

France's World Cup-winning superstar burst onto the scene with Monaco in the early months of 2017 when, as an 18-year-old, he scored six goals in six Champions League knockout games－including two against Manchester City－as the principality club reached the semifinals.

He went on to net in his debut for PSG in the competition and set the record, with 19, for most Champions League goals scored before the age of 21. But since then, nothing.

Mbappe has appeared in seven Champions League matches in 2020 without finding the net, most recently in last week's 2-0 win away to Istanbul Basaksehir.

Damningly, Manchester United's Marcus Rashford has scored as many goals (two) in the competition at Parc des Princes since the start of 2018-19 as Mbappe.

Not that Mbappe has not contributed anything recently for PSG in Europe. His electrifying pace helped turn around this summer's quarterfinal against Atalanta in the 'Final Eight' in Lisbon after an injury had restricted him to the bench.

And he was back in the side for the 3-0 win over Leipzig in the semifinal as the club from the French capital reached the final for the first time in its history, only to lose narrowly to Bayern Munich.

Last week in Istanbul, he set up both goals for recent loan signing Moise Kean, even if his touch for the second goal was really a failed attempt to control the ball.

"He is very, very young. He still has lots of things he needs to improve," said PSG coach Thomas Tuchel over the weekend when asked about the form of a player signed in a 180 million-euro ($212 million) deal in 2017, the second biggest transfer in history after that of teammate Neymar from Barcelona.

"We know he is the key player for us, the decisive player."

Tuchel was speaking after Mbappe converted a penalty which he had won, and also set up another goal, in PSG's 3-0 win at Nantes in Ligue 1.

Mbappe, who turns 22 in December, has scored seven times in the last six domestic outings for his club, while also netting the winner for France against Croatia.

He is back on top of the scorers' chart in France, having been Ligue 1's leading marksman in each of the last two seasons.

Nevertheless, he was signed to deliver in Europe first and foremost, and PSG needs him to get back among the goals in what is a key game in Leipzig.

AFP