Kylian Mbappe has posed a “Mission Impossible” for Monaco coach Niko Kovac when they face Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday.
The on-fire striker net a hat-trick against Barcelona and tops Ligue 1 scoring chart with 16 goals. The Monaco boss Kovac is aware it will take more than one player to stop the world’s best strikers.
Kovac admits his side will have a hard time keeping Mbappe quiet in the French capital. But he also admits that he has faith that they can do it with teamwork.
“PSG are a world-class team. They score a lot of goals and Kylian Mbappe is currently in great shape,” Kovac said.
“We must try to stop him. But it is not possible to do it with one player. We cannot stop Mbappe one on one. It’s mission impossible. We must be united, we must take care of him together, but that can make other PSG players freer. We have to do a good physical and tactical job to compensate for that,” he admits.
Despite Kovac acknowledging the threat pose by Mbappe, he counts on teamwork. he also believes in his striker who is the second-best attack in the league.
“If we take this game from the right end and manage to maintain a positive result over the minutes, that will give us the possibilities to bring something back from this trip,” he concludes.
PSG trail Ligue 1 leaders Lyon at 55 points and Lille second 54, ahead of the weekend’s games, while Monaco. Monaco is unbeaten in their last 11 matches, sit five points behind Mauricio Pochettino’s team.
Meanwhile, Memphis Depay played a starring role in Lyon’s 3-2 win over Brest. Depay is a free agent in July and the Lyon star continues to audition for future clubs in a promising manner.
The Netherlands star netted a goal and registered an assist as Lyon moved to the helm of the Ligue 1 table after the win. Although they have played a match more, both Lille and Paris Saint-Germain can overtake them when they play their 26th league game on Sunday.