Kylian Mbappe makes surprise injury admission after Bayern Munich defeat
By Tom Gott
Kylian Mbappe has confessed that he should not have played in Paris Saint-Germain's 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich on Tuesday because of his hamstring injury.
The French forward went down in a victory over Montpellier at the start of the month and was initially expected to miss the Bayern game, but he made a quick return to training and was healthy enough to start Tuesday's match on the bench, coming on for the final half an hour.
He did find the back of the net late on but saw his effort ruled out for offside, forcing PSG to accept their third straight defeat in all competitions after former Parisian Kingsley Coman netted to seal victory for Bayern.
After the match, Mbappe conceded that he probably should not have rushed himself back into action.
“I’m not 100% but I felt good enough to try to help my friends and play a little bit," he told reporters. "Basically, I shouldn’t have come back.
“I tried everything, tried to put everything on my side so as not to have any regrets. I would have liked to play this game [in full].
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“These are matches that we want to play, for which we work. Watching from the sidelines is very difficult. I only had 30 minutes to give. I gave everything. I will try to recover to be as efficient as possible.”
PSG had to weather a storm at times to keep Bayern out, but crucially, a one-goal deficit leaves them with hope of advancing to the next round and avoiding a second consecutive elimination from the Champions League last 16.
Christophe Galtier's side will head to Munich for the return leg on March 8, for which Mbappe is expected to be fully recovered.