PSG, Kylian Mbappe’s long goodbye starts with Nantes win as Real Madrid target comes off bench to score

The news that we have all considered inevitable for some time arrived earlier this week — Kylian Mbappe will leave Paris Saint-Germain once his contract expires this summer and the France international will move on after just under seven years at Parc des Princes. The 25-year-old’s impending exit has not yet been made official by the Ligue 1 giants and his next destination is yet to be announced. The strong expectation, though, is that Mbappe will be a Real Madrid player next season after years of pursuit by the Spanish outfit. However, before that, there are possibly almost four full months of the current season remaining in which the former AS Monaco man — and PSG — will hope to finish their final campaign together with a flourish given their current positioning.

Mbappe’s lengthy farewell began in Nantes on Saturday, with him coming off the bench to score a penalty in a 2-0 win at Stade de la Beaujoire, but it will span across three different competitions with Luis Enrique’s side still in contention across Le Championnat and the Coupe de France domestically as well as the UEFA Champions League in Europe. Given PSG’s positioning across those three trophies, there is no shortage of targets nor ambition for both Les Parisiens and Mbappe himself with his individual term as fruitful — if not more — than his team’s at this current point in time. We look at where Mbappe and PSG can still enjoy success over the remainder of this season before finally parting ways once the club campaign comes to an end which could be as late as June in the best case of all scenarios.

Where and how will it end between Mbappe and PSG on the field? 

Ligue 1

PSG started this weekend 11 points clear at the top of Ligue 1 with OGC Nice in second who lost to Olympique Lyonnais on Friday which now gives the capital club a game in hand over their closest title challengers and opens the door to Les Aiglons’ Riviera rivals Monaco overtaking them on Sunday. Mbappe’s Parisien side went 15 points ahead of Les Monegasques with Saturday’s win over FC Nantes and Adi Hutter’s men take on Toulouse at Stade Louis II the following day as they try to even stay in touch with a PSG side well and truly in the driving seat for the French title. Even if Luis Enrique’s side wobbles a little every now and then, they are unbeaten across all competitions since early November and have only drawn four of 18 encounters which suggests that they are well-placed and very much on course to retain last year’s crown but also to secure Mbappe’s sixth Hexagoal Trophy (Ligue 1 title) before departing.

Coupe de France

Arguably of less importance is the Coupe de France but equally it is a competition which PSG have not been as dominant in since 2021 which was the last time that Les Parisiens successfully defended their title. The last two editions have been won by unexpected victors in Nantes and then Toulouse with Stade Rennais also beating PSG in 2019 which represents three years when Mbappe has not been part of a Coupe de France-winning side. He does admittedly have three winners medals to his name from his time in Paris but you might also expect that number to be greater than it is at present even if it could be four by the time his story with PSG closes at the end of this campaign. Nice are next up for Mbappe and his teammates in the quarterfinals and victory there would knock out one of the strongest remaining threats along with Rennes and Lyon opening up another pathway to potential success.

Champions League

What really matters to both Mbappe and PSG, though, is Europe and Luis Enrique’s side confirmed themselves an important option this past midweek on a potential quarterfinal berth with a 2-0 round of 16 first-leg win over Real Sociedad. Although the job is far from done, based on the evidence of Wednesday’s game, Mbappe’s opening goal has put the French giants in a strong position to advance past their Basque opponents and into the quarterfinals for the first time since 2021 which would already represent progress in a way. The quarterfinals and beyond would most likely be against tougher opposition than Sociedad but the improved collective form combined with the now-or-never nature of Mbappe’s approaching exit in the summer could spur PSG on to a deeper run than expected which if nothing else could be viewed as the French superstar leaving the team in a stronger position than it has been for many years now.

Individual

There is also the individual aspect to consider with Mbappe currently rocketing up the scoring charts across all competitions and trailing only Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane in the race for the European Golden Shoe at present. The France international has 32 goals and four assists across all competitions with his 21-goal haul more or less double that of his nearest domestic competitors in Ligue 1 and his four Champions League goals currently just one short of a quartet of players on five. Mbappe was the first player in Europe to hit the 30-goal combined competition total this season ahead of even Kane which suggests that he could overtake the Germany-based Englishman if PSG continue to progress on all fronts with Bayern suddenly in major difficulty in Europe which could jeopardize Kane’s hopes of being the leading individual scorer on the continent. 

Nantes cameo

For 60 minutes or so, it looked as if Mbappe might be late for his own party as he started the clash with Nantes on the bench for a second consecutive Ligue 1 game having also sat out last week’s home win over Lille OSC after taking a knock on his ankle. The French superstar did score the crucial opener in midweek against Sociedad after being restored to the starting XI, but Luis Enrique opting to bring him into this game instead of starting it suggested that he perhaps was not 100% fit for that UCL victory over the Basques which made his ability to make the difference by breaking the deadlock that night all the more impressive. Mbappe’s goal against Nantes was not as challenging this time with a penalty converted 16 minutes after being sent on. Replacing Marco Asensio in a game which PSG needed time to grow into, the club eventually seized control through Lucas Hernandez’s 60th-minute opener just moments before the main man came on. Les Canaris created an unusually high number of chances despite PSG bossing possession yet Mbappe was part of a clinical lesson for Jocelyn Gourvennec’s men as this improving Paris side got another win under their belt as they build towards the business end of this season and their time with their talisman.