Rival watch: Tension between Kylian Mbappe and Luis Enrique before Barcelona clash
Paris Saint-Germain warmed up for Wednesday’s Champions League clash against Barcelona with a 1-1 Ligue 1 draw against Clermont Foot on Saturday.
The hosts needed an 85th minute goal to snatch a point against Ligue 1’s bottom side in a match that was overshadowed by more tension between Kylian Mbappe and Luis Enrique.
As we all know, Mbappe is PSG’s star player but he is expected to finally leave the club in the summer and head to Real Madrid.
Luis Enrique seems to be already preparing for his exit by leaving him out of his starting XI in recent weeks, including the game against Clermont Foot.
Mbappe did come on and set up the equaliser but was also spotted engaging in a tense exchange with Luis Enrique after the game.
All of which provides an interesting subtext ahead of Wednesday’s game. It seems incredibly unlikely that Mbappe will be on the bench again for such a huge fixture but there’s clearly some tension between star player and manager.
Yet Luis Enrique has clashed with star players before. He benched Francesco Totti at Roma and Xavi at Barcelona and even admitted there was “tension” in his relationship with Lionel Messi at Camp Nou.
The big question for Barcelona head of the game is whether the latest friction will help or hinder the Parisians ahead of the crunch quarter-final tie between the two sides?
