Paris Saint-Germain won their first Champions League on Saturday, and in the aftermath, many focused on Kylian Mbappe. The Real Madrid man left last summer having failed to win the competition during his seven-year spell at the Parc des Princes, which has been focused upon heavily over the last 16 hours.
Luis Enrique admits he would love to still have Kylian Mbappe
Mbappe sent a congratulatory message to his former club after their 5-0 victory over Inter, and in his post-match press conference, PSG head coach Luis Enrique spoke on the France international. As per Diario AS, he revealed that he would still have preferred to have Mbappe in his squad.
“We would have loved to have him, but his decision was another one that we accepted. The coach has to make his players believe that it is possible. We have shown that we have stars depending on the team and not in the other direction. We have to think about the Club World Cup and strengthen ourselves.”
Ousmane Dembele declared as favourite for 2025 Ballon d’Or
Luis Enrique also spoke on former Barcelona man Ousmane Dembélé, whom he considers to be the clear favourite to win the 2025 Ballon d’Or after his work in helping PSG win a historic treble.
“I would give the Ballon d’Or to Dembélé for how he has defended. That’s leading a team. He deserves the Ballon d’Or without a doubt. Not only because of the titles or the goals. Especially because of how he defended today.”
The race for the 2025 Ballon d’Or is bound to be a close one, with Dembele joined by Barcelona trio Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Pedri as strong candidates to win the award – all of whom would do so for the first time in their respective careers. France Football will present the award later in the year, at which point things will become clearer.
