Kylian Mbappe ‘happy' that PSG won the Champions League: ‘There's no bitterness'
Kylian Mbappe said he has no 'regrets' or 'bitterness' over Paris Saint-Germain winning the Champions League less than a year after he departed the club for Real Madrid.
Mbappe won six Ligue 1 titles in a seven-year spell with PSG but has never lifted the Champions League. Upon his move to the Bernabeu in June 2024, the France striker joined the European title holders and 15-time winners of the competition, but they were knocked out in the quarter-finals via a 5-1 aggregate defeat to Arsenal.
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PSG, meanwhile, beat Inter Milan by a record 5-0 margin in the Champions League final in Munich earlier this month to lift the trophy for the first time in the club's history.
'I didn't leave too soon,' Mbappe said at a news conference on Saturday ahead of France's Nations League third-place match against Germany, via L'Equipe. 'My story with PSG was over. There's no bitterness, no regrets. It's destiny. I would have tried everything, it had to happen without me.'
Mbappe started in PSG's 1-0 Champions League final loss against Bayern Munich in 2020, and the Parisians reached the semi-final of the tournament a year later, where they were beaten by Manchester City. PSG then suffered back-to-back round-of-16 exits before a semi-final defeat by Borussia Dortmund in Mbappe's final season at the club.
'I was happy, they deserved it, they've been through so many problems, I've been through that too,' Mbappe said, via Reuters. 'I've been through every stage of the Champions League except winning it. 'They were the best team in Europe. I can't remember ever seeing them go 5-0 up. It's 100 per cent deserved, they're becoming the team everyone wants to beat.'
Mbappe's first season in Spain ended trophyless after Madrid were beaten by Clasico rivals Barcelona to the title in La Liga and the Copa del Rey. Mbappe said he is 'in the eye of the storm' following PSG's Champions League victory but added he has 'always liked being in these positions'.
'It's up to me to work,' he added. 'I've reversed quite a few trends in my career, I've had a lot of things stuck on my back and I've managed to get them off.'
Mbappe's France face Germany in the third-place Nations League decider on Sunday (2pm BST, 9am ET), after the 26-year-old netted a penalty in his side's 5-4 semi-final defeat by Spain on Thursday.
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USA Today
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