Life after Mbappé is Proving better than Expected for French Leader PSG

Kylian Mbappé of PSG celebrates after scoring the 0-2 goal during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, 2nd leg soccer match between Real Sociedad and Paris Saint-Germain, in San Sebastian, Spain, 05 March 2024. (EPA)
Kylian Mbappé of PSG celebrates after scoring the 0-2 goal during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, 2nd leg soccer match between Real Sociedad and Paris Saint-Germain, in San Sebastian, Spain, 05 March 2024. (EPA)
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Life after Mbappé is Proving better than Expected for French Leader PSG

Kylian Mbappé of PSG celebrates after scoring the 0-2 goal during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, 2nd leg soccer match between Real Sociedad and Paris Saint-Germain, in San Sebastian, Spain, 05 March 2024. (EPA)
Kylian Mbappé of PSG celebrates after scoring the 0-2 goal during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, 2nd leg soccer match between Real Sociedad and Paris Saint-Germain, in San Sebastian, Spain, 05 March 2024. (EPA)

Kylian Mbappé's departure was expected to sidetrack Paris Saint-Germain this season.

How would a team long viewed as over-reliant on the France superstar cope without him after his move to Real Madrid?

Who could score so freely for PSG when Mbappé averaged more than 40 goals per season over the past four campaigns and more than 250 in seven years at the club? And who would bail the team out of trouble with last-gasp winners?

Things have turned out rather well, so far, and the widely anticipated post-Mbappé headache has not materialized.

Far from it.

PSG is the only team to have won its first three games in the French league and has scored an impressive 13 goals, according to The AP.

No longer being so reliant on Mbappé seems to have produced an early side effect, whereby the goals are being shared around and teamwork has improved in coach Luis Enrique's side.

Bradley Barcola has led the way with four goals, adding a finishing touch to his skilful dribbling down the left, while his France teammate Randal Kolo Muani and South Korea forward Lee Kang-in have netted twice each.

France right winger Ousmane Dembélé has chipped in with a goal and two assists for the defending champion, while new signing João Neves leads the league with three assists.

Kolo Muani and Dembélé continued their form with France, each scoring on Monday in a 2-0 win against Belgium in the Nations League.

Behind the forwards, Portugal's Vitinha and France's Warren Zaïre-Emery form a solid midfield pairing along with the 19-year-old Neves, an offseason signing from Portuguese side Benfica.

For now, it seems like Mbappé's absence is being felt more keenly off the field than on it.

On Wednesday, he rejected a mediation offer by the French soccer league’s legal commission in his dispute with PSG over wages and bonuses.

PSG officials and Mbappé’s representatives met in Paris after Mbappé asked the commission to get involved. Mbappé, who joined Madrid on a free transfer, says the club owes him 55 million euros ($60 million). PSG said it was pleased with how the commission hearing went.

While PSG's power struggle with its ex-striker continues, PSG's current crop of forwards look for more goals when the team hosts Brest on Saturday before facing Spanish side Girona on Wednesday when the Champions League starts.

Mbappé is expected to make his European debut for Madrid the previous night, at home to Stuttgart.

He never won Europe's most prestigious club prize with PSG, but most observers would argue he has a far better chance of doing so with record 15-time champion Madrid.

At some point this season, their paths may cross again on the field.



Forest Wins at Wolves and Closes Gap on Premier League Leader Liverpool

Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Nottingham Forest - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - January 6, 2025  Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood celebrates scoring their second goal with Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White and Nottingham Forest's Neco Williams REUTERS/David Klein
Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Nottingham Forest - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - January 6, 2025 Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood celebrates scoring their second goal with Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White and Nottingham Forest's Neco Williams REUTERS/David Klein
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Forest Wins at Wolves and Closes Gap on Premier League Leader Liverpool

Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Nottingham Forest - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - January 6, 2025  Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood celebrates scoring their second goal with Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White and Nottingham Forest's Neco Williams REUTERS/David Klein
Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Nottingham Forest - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - January 6, 2025 Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood celebrates scoring their second goal with Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White and Nottingham Forest's Neco Williams REUTERS/David Klein

Nottingham Forest beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0 away from home and moved within six points of Premier League leader Liverpool on Monday.
First-half goals from Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood and an injury-time third from Taiwo Awoniyi sent Forest to a sixth straight league win, The Associated Press reported. Nuno Espírito Santo’s men are tied on points with Arsenal, which is above them on goal difference.
The game took place on the 50th anniversary of Brian Clough’s appointment at the City Ground and the old maestro would have been thrilled to see his team get off to the perfect start with a goal after six minutes.
Former Wolves midfielder Gibbs-White combined on the counterattack with Anthony Elanga before stroking the ball into the bottom corner from 14 meters.
Both sides looked to play football and Wolves came into the game. However, Norwegian striker Jørgen Strand Larsen rued missing a couple of clear chances and he was punished two minutes before halftime when Wood doubled the visitor’s lead.
The big New Zealander put away Callum Hudson-Odoi’s cut back to grab his 12th goal of the season and his eighth in 13 league appearances against Wolves.
Forest dominated the second half and Wood's late replacement Awoniyi made it 3-0 in stoppage time.
The result set up a mouth-watering fixture between first and third next week, when Forest hosts Liverpool on Jan. 14.
It also brought Forest's European dreams a tiny bit closer. Wood said the squad's focus was keeping up the rich form that would make that happen for the first time since the 1990s.
“It is about consistency and doing what we have been doing extremely well already this season," Wood said. "We’re not giving up halfway through the season, we need to keep doing what we’ve been doing in the first 19 matches.
The defeat was the first for recently appointed Wolves coach Vitor Pereira and left it fourth from bottom.
It was “one of those games where you feel like the result could’ve been the other way,” Wolves defender Matt Doherty said. “Teams are ruthless. You can’t make mistakes and we made a couple of them and we got punished.”