Luis Enrique’s heated one-on-one chat with Los Blancos poster kid Kylian Mbappe following the French team’s 3-2 loss to Barcelona last season has come back to life in the wake of Real Madrid’s 3-0 loss to Arsenal in the 2024–25 Champions League semi-final.
Considered by many to be among the greatest football players in the world, Mbappe went from France to Spain in the summer but played a crucial role in the Paris-based team’s success from 2017 to 2024, becoming its all-time top scorer with 256 goals.
But it wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows for the French talisman. After PSG lost to Barcelona 3-2 in a two-leg 2023–24 Champions League quarterfinal match, Enrique, his old manager, had some harsh things to say about him.
Enrique and Mbappe’s Leadership Conversation Resurfaces
“As a player and as a person, you must first set that example.”
After Mbappe, 26, struggled against the Gunners in this season’s competition, footage of the two exchanges, which was entirely led by the 54-year-old tactician, has surfaced. Enrique began his speech, which was translated into English, by saying:
“I read that you’re a fan of Michael Jordan. Like a son of a b****, Michael Jordan would seize his teammates by the balls and begin defending with them. As a player and as a person, you must first set that example by pressing.
He suggested that Paris-born Mbappe should press from the front before naming Pau Cubarsi and Marc-Andre ter Stegen as two players who could ruin the Frenchman’s strategy ahead of their second encounter against Barcelona.
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You will have to contend with [Pau] Cubarsi. It will be your responsibility to put pressure on [Marc-Andre] ter Stegen and Cubarsi. You will urge Ter Stegen to play fast and apply pressure on Cubarsi throughout the entire game, preventing him from moving forward.
And so swiftly going back! Why? to hold a leadership position! because you believe that all you need to do is score goals. There is no denying that you are a world-renowned athlete, but it doesn’t work for me.
Since you had elite players on you the other day and you were unable to assist us, Enrique went on, “A true leader is when you are unable to assist us with the goals. However, you could have assisted us with all defensive tasks.”
Then pleading with Mbappe to take the initiative and lead PSG, saying he should be talking to the back four to be defensive. From that vantage point, Mbappe and the strikers ought to shoulder the majority of the workload instead.
“You go like this: ‘You stay all four, guys from the defensive line. I’ll bring my two other teammates along. Because it’s best if you just press.
“But, if on top of that, you take Ousmane [Dembele] and [Randal] Kolo Muani or [Bradley] Barcola or Goncalo [Ramos] or Marco Asensio and you set yourself as an example to press, do you know what we have? A f****** team machine.”
“That’s what I want you to do as a leader here for the two months you have left. I want you to leave here through the front door Kiki but you have to earn it. Not by attacking but the day you don’t attack, you have to be the best player in history at defending. That’s a leader. That’s it. Michael Jordan. Yes? Is that clear to you?”
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