Paris Saint-Germian manager Thomas Tuchel believes the tackle that reduced Kylian Mbappe to tears during the French Cup final was almost inevitable.
The Ligue 1 champions completed the domestic double on Friday night following a 1-0 victory secured by Neymar’s 14th minute goal.
But with the Champions League resumption on the horizon, Tuchel was left counting the cost of an injury to his star striker which could rule him out of the upcoming quarter-final against Atalanta.
Mbappe hobbled through the trophy presentation on crutches and his manager strongly hinted that the injury, caused by Loic Perrin’s challenge, which resulted in a red card and sparked a furious brawl, was premeditated.
‘We won, in a final, that’s the most important thing,’ said Tuchel afterwards. ‘It was very difficult. We won but we have a lot of things to improve.
‘Aside from that, there were situations with Thilo (Kehrer), Neymar and Kylian Mbappe and that costs us dearly. We have to wait. I don’t have news on Kylian Mbappe.
‘This season, we have played three times against St Etienne, there have been three red cards. And each time, they happen in the first 30 minutes, not at the end of the match when they are tired.
‘Today, it started with Ney and finished with Kylian. Aside from that, we got handed three cards for their foul (Perrin red card)! I really cannot understand that.’
PSG face the surprise package of this season’s Champions League in Portugal in just over a fortnight’s time.
Mbappe offered a positive update after the match, claiming his ankle wasn’t broken but further tests would be required to assess the damage.
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