“Mbappe’s departure was a shame” - Luis Enrique opens up on how his team responded to Kylian Mbappe exit as PSG reach Champions League final

After their UEFA Champions League heroics, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) boss Luis Enrique has spoken about how the exit of Kylian Mbappe from the club helped them as a team. The French champions are two games away from a first-ever treble after eliminating Arsenal by a 3-1 aggregate scoreline to reach the Champions League final.

Speaking after the game, former Spain and Barcelona manager Enrique pointed out that he believes his team is better now than it was when Kylian Mbappe played there. He spoke about how his players took Mbappe's departure as a challenge and stepped up as a unit, producing better than he would have.

"I think I was very brave last season when I said that we were going to have a better team without Mbappé. I still think we are better, the stats are there."

Mbappé's departure was a shame, but the players took it as a challenge. I would have loved to continue with Mbappé, but I think the players are responding at a high level... I'd rather have 4 players who score 12 goals each than 1 player who scores 40 goals."

Kylian Mbappe left the French capital last summer in favour of completing a dream move to Real Madrid. His Real Madrid switch has not worked out as well as he'd hoped, as Los Blancos were dumped out of the Champions League at the quarterfinal stage.

Since Mbappe's exit, the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Desire Doue, and Bradley Barcola have provided the goods. Dembele provided an assist in the 2-1 second leg win over Arsenal to set a new club record for goal contributions in a single Champions League campaign, eclipsing Mbappe's record.

PSG ace beats Kylian Mbappe record as club reaches Champions League final

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) star Ousmane Dembele overtook club legend Kylian Mbappe as the player with the most goal contributions in a single Champions League season. The Frenchman provided the assist for his side's second goal in their 2-1 win over Arsenal at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.

Doubtful due to a hamstring injury, Dembele started on the bench and was introduced in the 70th minute. He needed just two minutes to set up Achraf Hakimi, playing a cushioned ball into his path for the right-back to curl an effort into the back of the net.

Dembele's assist was his fourth of the Champions campaign to go with eight goals, giving him a new record of 12 goal contributions. Mbappe's previous record stood at 11 goal contributions, set in the 2020-21 season.