Paris Saint-Germain manager Christophe Galtier has stated that there are no issues between Kylian Mbappe and Neymar after the penalty incident from last weekend.
PSG thrashed Montpellier 5 – 2 in their first home game of the new season. It was also Mbappe’s first game with the club due to a short spell on the sidelines following an injury in pre-season.
Mbappe was presented with the opportunity to get off the mark for the new season after Lionel Messi won a penalty, but he scuffed it. Some minutes later, PSG got another penalty which Neymar took and scored. However, it was not without incident as Mbappe and Neymar seemed to have a little argument over who would take the penalty.
During the game, Mbappe, who got on the scoresheet later, was seen sulking with one particularly damning clip becoming the highlight of the game on social media. Mbappe was seen pulling away from an attack after not receiving a pass he wanted.
Rumours of a rift between Mbappe and Neymar soon filled social media. These rumours were also fuelled by the fact that Neymar liked some tweets that criticised Galtier’s choice as PSG’s first choice penalty taker. Galtier, however, has put those rumours to bed in his press conference before the LOSC Lille match in game week three of the 2022/23 season.
“There is no discomfort, it’s fine,” Galtier said at the pre-match press conference. He then admitted that the issue was discussed but reiterated that both players were fine. “Of course, we quickly met the next day to iron out all that and say what we had to say to each other.
“That’s why there is no malaise and I confirm it with a lot of sincerity, we had a very pleasant week of work where everyone worked to prepare the match against Lille.”
The question of who would be the club’s primary penalty taker was put to Galtier and the Frenchman answered that the situation would determine who took the penalty. “It can only be evolutionary because it depends on who is on the field at that moment,” he said.
“In this match against Montpellier there was a very precise order, shooter number one Kylian, shooter number two Ney. That’s what happened. Afterwards, there is the interpretation that we make when we give an order, what happens when there is a second penalty.
“Nothing happened on the second penalty, it was very short, there was a discussion, an exchange, a discussion between Ney and Kylian. From the moment Ney felt like taking it, Kylian let Ney take it.”
Neymar has made an impressive start to the season, scoring five and assisting three in the first three games of the season. Mbappe, on the other hand, has started slowly, scoring only the one against Montpellier.
