Paris Saint-Germain attacker Kylian Mbappe was in no mood to answer questions about Real Madrid following Paris Saint-Germain's latest heartbreaking exit from the Champions League.
Needing to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg of their semi-final with Borussia Dortmund, Luis Enrique's men instead suffered an identical defeat in equally frustrating circumstances at the Parc des Princes.
The French champions were made to pay for squandering numerous chances in last week's first leg, and it was a similar story on Tuesday, where Dortmund veteran Mats Hummels headed in the only goal of the contest.
It was certainly not for a lack of trying for PSG, who fired 30 shots on the Dortmund goal but only landed five of them on target, the former statistic representing a record for a team in the Champions League knockout stages without scoring.
Enrique's luckless troops also struck the frame of the goal four times - another unwanted UCL record - and Mbappe was responsible for one of those crossbar hits as his dreams of Champions League glory with PSG ended in misery.
Mbappe rolls eyes at journalist after Real Madrid question
⚪️🙄 Kylian Mbappé when asked if he will support Real Madrid vs Bayern...pic.twitter.com/pIKvGKLp2Y
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 7, 2024
The 25-year-old - who also slipped at the vital moment during PSG's final attack of the match - is expected to depart the Parc des Princes this summer to join Real Madrid, who face Bayern Munich in their semi-final second leg on Wednesday evening.
Mbappe stopped to speak to journalists in the mixed zone following the contest, but when asked if he would be supporting Real Madrid in their battle with Bayern this evening, the Frenchman simply rolled his eyes and walked away.
However, the former Monaco protege was receptive to questions about PSG's performance on the evening, and he refused to put PSG's plethora of woodwork hits down to bad luck, claiming that their shots would have made the net ripple if they were "good".
"We have to score. We had opportunities to score and when you don't do it, when you aren't effective in both boxes, it's hard to go to the next round. It doesn't mean we have to throw it all away!" Get French Football News quotes Mbappe as saying.
"This team gave a lot, they tried to make all the fans proud, but it wasn't enough. We will have to take what worked and continue to improve, because we still have the Coupe de France final to play, the season can't stop here because the Coupe de France is an important objective.
© Reuters
Mbappe: 'Our season hasn't been bad
"I don't know if they were better than us, but there's no need to put down the opponent. In my humble opinion, they were better than us in both boxes. Everyone will analyse it, but the truth is that they attacked us once or twice and scored and we entered their box several times and didn't score.
"It's impossible to ignore this. I don't like talking about bad luck, if you're good, you don't hit the post, it goes in. Today we weren't good enough where we were expected to be: In the forward areas."
Mbappe will at least leave PSG with another Ligue 1 and Trophee des Champions winners' medal around his neck, and the Parisiens will also square off with Lyon in the Coupe de France final on May 25.
The summer marked the start of a new era for PSG, who lost Lionel Messi and Neymar and prioritised signing young talent, and Mbappe believes that the French giants can be proud of their season during their transitional period.
"If we summarise this season, accounting for the fact that we have a new project with young players, I would say it hasn't been bad. We always want to win at PSG. We are sad. I'll say it again, we have to win the Coupe de France and then we'll see. Today isn't the time," Mbappe added.
PSG's elimination at the hands of Dortmund marked their sixth loss from seven semi-final ties in the Champions League, also the most of any team to compete in at least five such encounters.
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