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Paris: Striker Kylian Mbappe stands at the threshold of a historic achievement with Paris Saint-Germain, the leader of the French Football League, against its guest, Nantes, on Saturday, in the 26th stage competition, before the expected match against its German host, Bayern Munich, in the second leg of the Champions League final.
The striker of the “Roosters” team, with his two goals during the 3-0 victory over Marseille in the last stage, raised his tally to 200 goals in the Qatari-owned Capital Club shirt, equaling his former Uruguayan colleague Edinson Cavani as the best scorer in the club’s history.
It is not excluded that Mbappe, who scored 4 goals in his last two matches after his return from injury, will once again visit the net against the “Canary” team, the French Cup holder and the fourteenth place in the league, at the “Parc des Princes” stadium for the sole record.
“Without a doubt, Kylian will break the record. He is the best scorer in the world at the moment, there is no doubt about that,” Saint-Germain coach Christophe Galtier said after the victory over Marseille, who had knocked him out of the local cup.
He continued, “He is very fast and does anything quickly. He always appears in the big matches, which is something that the big players do well.”
Mbappe needed only 246 games and 5 and a half years to reach the 200-goal barrier with Saint-Germain since he signed his statements from Monaco in August 2017.
On the other hand, Cavani needed 298 matches between 2013 and 2020 to reach this threshold. As for the Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, one of the first stars in the era of ownership of Qatar, he previously held the record with 156 goals in the 4 years he spent in Paris until 2016.
Mbappe (24 years) will be facing a new achievement in his career, just two months after he was crowned top scorer in the World Cup in Qatar with 8 goals, including a hat-trick in the final match against his colleague Lionel Messi, Argentina, which France lost on penalties after a 3-3 draw.
This loss in Doha overshadowed Mbappe and prevented him from winning the title of “The Best” in the FIFA Awards, which was won by his colleague, the little “flea”, at a ceremony held in Paris on Monday.
Mbappe and Messi are preparing for the expected match in Bayern, where Saint-Germain will be a guest on the German champion in the past ten seasons in the second leg of the final price of the main continental competition, after losing 0-1 in the first leg.
Mbappe, returning from injury during the first-leg loss, sat on the bench, but got the opportunity to enter the green rectangle and score a goal that was ruled out by the referee for offside.
Although Saint-Germain misses the third episode in his fiery attack, Brazilian Neymar due to his ankle injury, he believes in his chances of turning the equation against the giants of Bavaria thanks to the Messi-Mbappe duo who ignited the “Velodrome” stadium in the victory over Marseille with two goals from Mbappe, with two assists from the Argentine, who scored Turn reel from the Frenchman.
Saint-Germain tightens its grip on the lead with 60 points, 8 points ahead of Marseille, who will visit Rennes on Sunday at the end of the competitions of this stage.
Lille led by the brilliant Gomez
Lens, the fourth (50 points), receives its guest, the sixth (44), on Saturday, in the derby in northern France, to the impact of the brilliance of the last Portuguese midfielder, Andre Gomez.
Gomez moved to Lille at the beginning of the current season on loan from Everton, England, as part of his quest to re-launch his career, which had not known success since his move to Barcelona, Spain.
The 29-year-old former Benfica player signed a contract with the Catalan club from Valencia after he helped his country win the European Cup in 2016. But his luster soon dimmed at the “Camp Nou” stadium, before he suffered from physical problems in the Premier League.
Gomez is shining, after he was persuaded to move to France to re-ignite the glow of his career, with Lille, led by compatriot coach Paulo Fonseca, who is seeking a European seat next season.
Monaco, third, with 50 points, will visit Troyes, the bottom runner-up, in an easy match on paper, while Reims Tenth (37), who has not lost in 17 matches in “Ligue 1” in his longest series in the elite league, will host Ajaccio on Sunday as well.
Reims’ last loss was at home against Monaco, 0-3, in the eighth stage, noting that during this series it achieved 7 victories against 10 draws.