[ad_1]
The French star’s partnership with the Colombian at Monaco took Europe by storm and the PSG boss sees similarities with him and the Argentine
Kylian Mbappe’s prolific partnership with Mauro Icardi reminds Paris Saint-Germain boss Thomas Tuchel of the celebrated alliance the France star enjoyed with Radamel Falcao at Monaco.
Mbappe has scored 19 times in 21 appearances for PSG this season, while Icardi has 17 in 20 since joining on loan from Inter.
Neither man was able to get on the score sheet during Sunday’s thrilling 3-3 draw against Monaco but, ahead of Wednesday’s rescheduled return at Stade Louis II, Tuchel paid a glowing tribute to their partnership.
Mbappe burst onto the French and European football scene playing alongside Falcao in the Monaco side that stunned PSG to win Ligue 1 in 2016-17, along with reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League – beating a Borussia Dortmund side coached by Tuchel en route.
“Yes, it’s a bit similar because Falcao is kind of similar to Mauro, he really likes to play as number nine, and he can play alone,” the German tactician told reporters.
“Kylian moves more, he moves fast on the wings. It’s a good combination, it’s good for both of them, they like to play together and they are dangerous together.
“It’s good because we always have two players in the last third and it’s hard to defend against. It’s a good mix.”
Mbappe and Icardi are both likely to start on Wednesday, especially in light of Edinson Cavani’s absence from the travelling party, although Tuchel could shuffle his pack elsewhere with four consecutive away games on the agenda before the end of this month – a schedule with which the head coach is far from satisfied.
“It’s bad for the players, they’re dead! They never sleep,” he said.
Article continues below
“We always have to manage when we train and when we let them sleep because sleeping well is the best thing to recover. It’s been proven.
“But we never sleep. We lose the rhythm. If we do it once, okay, but if we do it four times during two weeks, we go to bed at 3am, 4am, 5am. It’s tough.”
PSG are currently top of the Ligue 1 standings – five points and a game in hand clear of Marseille.
[ad_2]
Source link