Kylian Mbappe Admits Real Madrid Showed Difference Between 'Great Players & Champions' in UCL Defeat
Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe has admitted that Real Madrid showed his side the "difference between having great players and champions" during PSG's UEFA Champions League round of 16 defeat to the Spanish outfit.
Zinedine Zidane's men won the overall tie with a 5-2 aggregate victory, after beating the Parisians at home 2-1. With star man Neymar injured for the second leg, it was always going to be a much bigger task than it started out as, and Mbappe admits that he and his teammates simply weren't good enough:
"Mentally we wanted to face the game against Madrid as best as possible." He said, according to Marca.
"No one can say that we did not try, but this is football and although we have great players Madrid showed the difference between having great players and champions."
"We have to learn from mistakes and avoid repeating them next season."
Defeat has been something that the PSG players haven't been used to this season. Having only failed to win four of their 29 league matches this term - and even then still drawing two - PSG's season has been (as expected) sublime, with Mbappe himself along with Neymar and Edinson Cavani firing on all cylinders in Ligue 1.
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The weekend saw those latter two players miss out on the club's 5-0 victory over Metz. Neymar still injured, and Cavani rested.
That didn't stop the league leaders from running riot, though. While Mbappe did score, he didn't shine. Instead, youngster Christopher Nkunku took the plaudits with a brace, and goals from defensive duo Thiago Silva and Thomas Meunier complete the win.