Real Madrid fans react to Kylian Mbappé at the Bernabéu
Mixed reaction from Real Madrid fans to announcement of Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappé at the Bernabéu ahead of Champions League last-16 second leg.
"Kylian Mbappé!" The Real Madrid fans reacted vociferously to the announcement of the Paris Saint-Germain number seven at the Bernabéu on Wednesday night, ahead of the Madrid - PSG Champions League second leg.
The reaction, however, was far from uniform. A majority of home fans cheered and applauded the striker, no doubt fired up by growing speculation that he will join Los Blancos at the end of the season; however a substantial minority booed the Frenchman, simply for playing against Real Madrid.
Mbappé heavily linked with summer Real Madrid switch
Mbappé, who is out of contract at PSG at the end of the season, is widely expected to be a Madrid player next term, having rebuffed several attempts by the Ligue 1 club to tie him down to a new deal.
Earlier this month, it emerged that PSG had sought to tempt the France international with a 50-million-euro after-tax annual salary, in addition to a 200m-euro pre-tax signing-on bonus. He is expected to earn around 25m euros after tax if he signs for Madrid.
Applause and boos for Mbappé at Bernabéu
Ahead of Madrid’s Champions League last-16 second leg against PSG, the home fans in the Spanish capital responded mostly with enthusiastic applause when Mbappé’s name was read out over the loudspeaker, despite some boos ringing out.
In a poll carried out by AS.com in the lead-up to the game, 60% of Madrid supporters had said they would applaud the player.
The World Cup winner was a starter for PSG despite suffering a foot injury in training on Monday, after suffering a late challenge by midfielder Idrissa Gueye.
It was Mbappé’s goal at the Parc des Princes last month - a fine solo effort scored in second-half stoppage time - that gave PSG a 1-0 first-leg advantage to take to the Bernabéu.
In an interview with television channel Movistar+ after his match-winning performance against Madrid, Mbappé fuelled talk of a summer switch to the Bernabéu by answering questions in impressively fluent Spanish.
Real Madrid vs PSG: live with AS USA
You can follow Real Madrid vs PSG with AS USA’s live-text coverage of the game. Join Kieran Quaile as he talks you through the action at the Bernabéu.