In football, everything goes very fast, too fast. A fortnight ago, who would have had a shred of hope that Paris Saint-Germain would be able to successfully comeback at the Allianz Arena? Before the game against Lille, Luis Campos and Christophe Galtier were good to leave. But after the triumphant return of superhero Mbappé, optimism is now rife at the Camp des Loges ahead of the trip to Munich.
Inevitably, the Frenchman's return is in keeping with the renewed hope in the capital club's environment. A brace against Lille, another against OM and a record-breaking goal against Nantes were some of the fruits of PSG's return to a positive spiral in terms of results. So, with positive things leading to more positive things, Paris got their heads up and then went on to the fateful second leg against the Bavarians. With a goal behind (Bayern won 1-0 in the first leg), Mbappé and company are condemned to a feat.
"I play to write history. I always said I wanted to write history in France, in the capital, in my country, in my city. I'm doing it, it's wonderful, but there's still a long way to go. It's a personal achievement, but I also came for collective achievements," the player told Canal+ after scoring his 201st goal in the blue and red shirt.
In overtaking Cavani on Saturday, the Bondy native achieved an individual goal that he had set for himself beforehand. However, the latter has stayed in Paris to "make history" - as he and his entourage repeated at the time of his extension - and, to do so, he must bring the first Champions League to the City of Light. It's no mean feat given the club's history in the competition, as we know, and they will have their work cut out for them on Wednesday night, as they will be forced to produce a comeback.
Under the circumstances, would defeat against Bayern be the last straw for Mbappe? "If I was linking my future to the Champions League, and I mean no disrespect to the club, I would have gone a long way!" He said in a press conference on Saturday evening, adding that he was only thinking of "making PSG great".
The trend, on this Tuesday 7 March, has not changed since October, according to several sources consulted by Flashscore France: Mbappé was not satisfied with the various decisions taken by the Parisian management at the transfer window, leading him to believe that they have made promises in the air.
The Frenchman will only have one year left on his contract this summer - the third year signed being an option - which suggests that he will have the cards in his hands to apply pressure. On the other end, the club's directors want to do everything in their power to ensure that the player activates his option and extends his contract until 2025.
A new chapter will certainly be opened between now and April/May. The match against the Germans seems pivotal: a new failure could accentuate the discontent of the forward. It's like a deja vu, you might say. If this story ends up like last year - with Mbappé deciding to extend his contract once again despite his annoyance and his desire to go elsewhere - we can reaffirm that in football, everything goes very fast, too fast.
