Kylian Mbappe ‘not bitter’ about PSG’s Champions League triumph
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Kylian Mbappe (right) arriving for a training session on June 7 for France's national team, near Stuttgart, southwestern Germany.
PHOTO: AFP
STUTTGART, Germany - France captain Kylian Mbappe said on June 7 he is not bitter Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League the year after his departure for Real Madrid.
“I didn’t leave too soon; my story with PSG was over. I am not bitter; I had reached the end of the road,” Mbappe said in a press conference ahead of a June 8 Nations League third place match against Germany in Stuttgart.
PSG crushed Inter Milan 5-0 to win the Champions League in Munich on May 31, the first time the club has won the competition.
“I tried everything, and it was destiny that meant it had to happen without me,” said Mbappe.
“PSG winning the Champions League without me doesn’t affect me. I was happy, I think they deserved it.
“They’ve had so many years where they struggled. I’ve been there too; I’ve played in every Champions League stage in Paris except for the victory.
“They’re the best team in Europe.
“I don’t remember seeing a team win 5-0 in a major final.”
Mbappe has repeated his desire to win Europe’s biggest club competition, but the closest the Paris-born forward got with his boyhood club was losing the final in 2020 to Bayern Munich.
The 26-year-old moved to Madrid in the summer of 2024 hoping to lift the Champions League, but the Spanish giants crashed out in the quarter-finals of the competition to Arsenal in April.
Real failed to win a trophy in the 2024-25 season, their first campaign without silverware in four years. AFP
