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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Mark Jones

Kylian Mbappe leaves Neymar and Lionel Messi in no doubt amid new PSG transfer saga

Kylian Mbappe was keen to take centre stage on the day he made it clear that he wants to leave Paris Saint-Germain.

The French forward scored the opener against Benfica from the penalty spot five minutes before half-time after a foul on Juan Bernat, with Mbappe immediately standing on the spot and taking the ball as some of his other PSG teammates were checking on the state of their Spanish teammate.

Neymar was nowhere to be seen in the incident, despite scoring three penalties for PSG this season and one for Brazil.

Mbappe, meanwhile, had missed the only penalty that he had taken this season in August's Ligue 1 clash with Montpellier. Mbappe and Neymar where then seen disagreeing over who would take a second penalty in that match, with the Brazilian ignoring his teammate's pleas to be given the ball before scoring from the spot.

With the injured Lionel Messi watching on from the stands, Mbappe tucked home the penalty to give PSG the lead on a night when a win would have put them through to the Champions League knockout stages.

The forward then celebrated with his teammates, and although Neymar was part of the group he didn't seem to approach Mbappe as the group celebrated.

Benfica soon equalised with a penalty of their own in the second half after referee Michael Oliver was told by his VAR to view a challenge from Marco Verratti on Rafa Silva on the very edge of the box.

Mbappe scored PSG's goal five minutes before the break (REUTERS)

A spot kick was eventually given and scored by former West Ham midfielder Joao Mario.

All eyes were on Mbappe in Paris though, and the forward thought he'd won the game five minutes from time when he fired home from an offside position, with Benfica players also appealing for handball as the goal was chalked off.

Shortly after that the forward was taken off having appeared to suffer an injury, limping toward the touchline and speaking to manager Christoph Gaultier, whose future at the club is also under question.

The injury meant that it was far from the perfect ending for Mbappe, who is now said to regret his summer decision to stay in Paris amid interest from Real Madrid.

Speaking before the game, PSG chief Luis Campos dismissed the exit fears, saying: "Mbappe has never told me about his intention to leave in January.

"We speak with him, Messi, Ney… we’re very happy to be here."

Some of the body language on show on Tuesday would appear to contradict that though, with an interesting few days ahead.

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