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PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe hoping for all-French Champions League final

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Kylian Mbappe was all smiles after PSG prevailed in this year's first Champions League semi-final.

Lisbon, Portugal - Striker would relish 'a very special occasion' if Lyon can beat Bayern Munich on Wednesday to book final with PSG.

By AFP

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Published: Wed 19 Aug 2020, 3:42 AM

Last updated: Wed 19 Aug 2020, 2:53 PM

Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe admits he hopes Lyon will beat Bayern Munich in their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday and set up an all-French final in Europe's elite club competition this weekend.
"I'd prefer Lyon for sure, because they are a French team," Mbappe said when asked if he had a preferred opponent in the final after PSG's 3-0 semi-final victory over RB Leipzig in Lisbon on Tuesday.
"It will be a very tough game. If it's Bayern, fine, but if it were Lyon it would certainly make it a very special occasion."

PSG are the first French side through to the final of the Champions League since Monaco in 2004 after goals by Marquinhos, Angel Di Maria and Juan Bernat saw off Leipzig in a one-sided encounter at the Estadio da Luz.
They would perhaps not be favourites in a final against Bayern, but they certainly would be against Lyon.
PSG won the Ligue 1 title while Lyon came seventh in a season that was curtailed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The teams met as recently as the end of July in the French League Cup final, with PSG winning on penalties after a 0-0 draw.
Mbappe missed that game because of an ankle injury, suffered in the French Cup final against Saint-Etienne a week earlier.

- Emotional injury -

However, he returned to play a key role off the bench in the 2-1 quarter-final win over Atalanta last week and started against Leipzig.
"The truth is that the night I got my injury against Saint-Etienne I thought that was it, that I wouldn't come back" for the Champions League 'Final Eight', he said.
"I cried all night, but the next morning I woke up and said to myself that I would do everything I could, get treatment all day and come home and get more treatment.
"I knew the team would need me at some point, maybe not for my physical presence on the field but also being around the team and showing them I was ok.
"I never wanted them to see that I was suffering. It was a difficult time but it was a real pleasure to come back against Atalanta and help the team qualify today."
Mbappe, 21, admitted he is still not back to peak fitness.
"I feel good, better and better all the time, but I still have to wear a heavy strapping around it.
"There is no more pain. I still need to take certain precautions but I am ready to help the team, give everything on the pitch. All I want is to win, that's why I came here."
Meanwhile, coach Thomas Tuchel heaped praised on his Paris Saint-Germain side are their superb win.
"Incredible, that's why we're here to play in the final and to win," Tuchel told French broadcaster RMC. 
"We showed our quality, our hunger, determination. A good mix which showed we deserved the win. 
"The team showed once again the hunger two win, to play together, to suffer. They made the most of it."
PSG's easy 3-0 win over RB Leipzig at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon showed all the composure on a big European occasion that they have lacked in recent seasons.
"I felt the pressure before the game, it wasn't easy, I have players who love the pressure of key matches I'm never relaxed," said Tuchel.
"We know well that Bayern are the favourites, it will be difficult against Lyon, but we'll see. It's obviously the biggest challenge of my career."
RB Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann was left ruing his side's mistakes and missed chances after bowing out of the Champions League.
"In the end the opponent was simply better than us, we have to accept that," Nagelsmann said in Lisbon.
Leipzig, founded in 2009, reached the last four for the first time in the Red Bull-backed club's brief history in his first season in charge.
"We were in the semi-finals, we can be proud of that," Nagelsmann added.
Neymar set up Marquinhos' early header to give PSG an early led, then the Brazil attacker split the defence to create Parisian's second goal for Angel Di Maria before half-time.
"We won't be the first team not to stop Neymar and we won't be the last," Nagelsmann said.
"Paris played a very, very good game. We made one or two mistakes too many. In the first ten to 12 minutes we did well and had good situations," the German coach added.
"It was an unfortunate mistake for the opening goal from a set piece and it was hard to come back after the second goal, because Paris have a lot of quality.
"We had a good start at the start of the second half, but then conceded the third goal from nothing, during a period of good pressure from us."
Having won their group, then knocked out last season's finalists Tottenham and an experienced Atletico Madrid side in the knock-out stages, Nagelsmann failed to hide his disappointment at the missed chance to reach the final.
"The feelings of frustration will take a few days to get over," he admitted.
"The attitude of my players was great. We showed character on the pitch, but you have to accept when the opponent is stronger."


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