Kylian Mbappé opened up about his time playing with Lionel Messi at Paris Saint-Germain in a recent interview, reflecting on how “lucky” he was to call him a teammate.
After an untimely end to his Barcelona career, Messi moved to PSG forming one of the most talented attacks including himself, Mbappé and Neymar. While success was limited to two Ligue 1 titles and the Trophée des Champions , the star power alone made PSG a box office attraction every week. Messi departed two seasons later for Inter Miami, but the Argentine left a lasting impact on him.
“When you talk about players who have marked history, you think of Messi. He is a very normal person inside a locker room. When you’re famous, a lot of people give you a label and if you listen to them it gets into your head, but no, he was totally normal and had respect for everyone,” Mbappé said to Movistar.
“As a player, he was unique. When you have someone like that on your team you have to stay close to them and observe everything they do. He helped me a lot to understand the game.
“It was lucky for me to play with Leo Messi. I didn’t think I was going to play with him in my career. I thought he would stay in Barcelona all his life and my dream was Real Madrid, I didn’t plan to go to Barcelona in my life. I can only thank him. It was a golden opportunity.”
Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi’s Statistics Playing Together
Mbappé and Messi linked up for 34 goals during their time together across 67 games, an average of 0.51 goals per game. In terms of minutes played, roughly a goal every 157 minutes. They combined three times in a game twice during the 2022–23 season—away to AC Ajaccio and Olympique Marseille.
In fact, Mbappé combined with Messi for the second-most amount of goals in the former’s career despite their short time together. The only player Mbappé has combined more with is Neymar (54), but they played over double the amount of matches together (136).
They might have not delivered the Champions League—that had to wait until both players left the club ironically—but they still were a formidable duo on the pitch.
Mbappe Discusses Relationship With Ronaldo
Following his comments on Real Madrid being his “dream” move, Mbappé also commented on his relationship with club legend and childhood idol Cristiano Ronaldo.
“Cristiano has always been a role model, an example for me. I’m lucky to talk to him, to have him give me advice. He’s helped me. At Real Madrid, he’s number one, the key player. People, even now, dream of him. But I want to follow my own path. I hope people dream of me, too. Let it be a historic moment for me and for Real Madrid,” Mbappé stated.
Mbappé might not be in the rarified air of players to play with both Messi and Ronaldo, but he continues to rely on the Portuguese icon as he navigates his Real Madrid career.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Lucky’—Kylian Mbappe Reveals What Made Lionel Messi So Special at PSG.
