February 26, (THEWILL) – After substituting Kylian Mbappe as Paris Saint-Germain struggled to a home draw with Rennes, on Sunday, coach Luis Enrique said the soon-to-leave superstar will play “when I want him”.
Luis Enrique took off France captain Mbappe in the 65th minute with PSG losing. His replacement, Goncalo Ramos, won and converted an added-time penalty that gave the home team a 1-1 draw in Ligue 1. Mbappe has said he plans to leave when his contract expires after this season with Real Madrid expected to be his next destination.
“It’s very simple, sooner or later when it happens, we have to get used to playing without Kylian,” Luis Enrique told the post-match press conference. “When I want him to play, I’ll play him, and when I don’t, the same thing.” Between the 64th and 70th minutes, Luis Enrique replaced his entire forward line, also taking off Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola.
“It’s a message for everyone”, said Luis Enrique immediately after the game. “If you think I’m going to accept a player slacking off on the pitch, I’m not.” At the press conference, he stressed that he was not singling out any players and that the whole team was “less inspired” than usual.
PSG, who have an 11-point lead over Brest in Ligue 1, face third-placed Monaco on Friday before travelling to San Sebastian to face Real Sociedad in a Champions League round-of-16 second-leg game on March 5th, holding a 2-0 lead from the first leg.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
