BARCELONA—Agitated and in the heat of competition during a Champions League match, Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappé possibly threatened Barcelona defender Jordi Alba.
The Marca daily and other outlets have posted a video online of Mbappé apparently saying “In the street, I’ll kill you.” The incident between the two players occurred during PSG’s 4-1 win at Barcelona on Tuesday.
Mbappé ended up scoring a hat trick in the match at the Camp Nou.
Alba moved toward Mbappé after the PSG forward pushed Barcelona defender Sergiño Dest in front of goal while play was stopped in the first half. The players then started trash-talking.
It’s not totally clear in the video what Mbappé is saying, though it appears that the native French-speaker tried to say “In the street, I’ll kill you” in Spanish.
The 22-year-old Mbappé has been often linked to a move to Barcelona rival Real Madrid.
The second leg of the round-of-16 series between Barcelona and PSG is scheduled for March 10 in Paris.
While Mbappé was the talking point of the soccer world this week after his hat trick against Barcelona, the performance of his teammate Marco Verratti laid the foundations for his stellar performance.
Verratti’s virtuoso midfield display at Camp Nou on Tuesday was lost somewhat amid the flood of compliments for the destructive Mbappé. Yet it highlighted just how crucial the injury-prone Verratti is in making PSG truly competitive.
The 28-year-old Verratti has had four minor injuries this season and missed 14 matches. In previous campaigns, he was often sidelined by thigh, knee, calf and adductor injuries and since 2014 has had 23 separate injuries.
None of them have been career-threatening, but the constant injury doubts have posed a considerable headache to PSG’s managers over the years, who have never been able to feel certain that the Italy midfielder would be available for key games.
Add a volatile temperament—his continuing tendency to needlessly argue with referees leads to booking and suspensions—and it’s clear why PSG has not always been able to get the best out of Verratti.
But for defending champion PSG to really get its league campaign going, Coach Mauricio Pochettino needs a fully-fit Verratti.
PSG is in second place heading into Sunday’s home game against fourth-place Monaco, a high-scoring team which won eight straight games before drawing against Lorient last weekend.
A win for Niko Kovac’s vastly improved Monaco side would move it two points behind PSG, which trails leader Lille by one point and is only two ahead of third-place Lyon.
There are 13 rounds left, and still enough time for PSG to go on a decisive run of wins.
But it might not be so straightforward, because Lille has only lost twice and Lyon three times. AP
Image credits: AP