For the third time this season, Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel and star player Kylian Mbappe clashed on the sidelines.
With Neymar under control, committed to the club until the end of the season, it is the other key man who has caused controversy.
In front of the cameras, Tuchel and Mbappe clashed again as the Parisians were 5-0 up against Montpellier.
Mbappe had scored the fourth goal and in the 69th minute he was taken off in place of Mauro Icardi, but he didn't hide his anger at the decision.
In the reverse fixture against Montpellier, whilst 3-1 up, it happened then and also against Nantes when 2-0 up in early December.
On Saturday, Tuchel grabbed Mbappe's arm to explain the decision as the two tussled on the touchline and it is clear that there is a problem between the two.
"I am the coach, not Mbappe," Tuchel had said in his post-match press conference, explaining that Mbappe was frustrated to only have scored one goal.
The Frenchman is desperate to win the Ballon d'Or and wants to be the key man in the PSG project in order to justify his claim to the throne.
The 21-year-old believes that these substitutions do not match with promises made at board level, with his future in the air as his contract is set to run until 2022 and he has told the club he will not discuss his plans until the end of the current campaign.
PSG want to extend his contract and will not put a price on his head, even more so if Neymar is to depart this summer.
The club have already made it clear, in an interview with Nasser Al-Khelaifi in France Football, that the team must come first and, for this reason, they believe that Tuchel is the right man to manage the personality of their star.
wuaacdmpu
533
These French players all think they’re bigger than the club Pogba, Martial and Mbappe
adeolokun
509
It's sure that Neymar is going, now treating Mbappe this way unsatisfied its clearly a doom for the club. Icardi can never solve the problems if Mbappe triggered to force his way untimely. Why should you substitute when the guy is hot fighting for world best? It's time for Mbappe to hurriedly do that for balloon d'or cos many stars are springing up. Those half-brain coaches never check their manual of operations (Zidane) on how to rotate and yet calm their star. It's not too low to have discussed with Mbappe before the match and seek his his consent, it's not belittling his headship, all is to avoid crack in d club and if crack is allowed, it may take 10yrs to have d opportunity of this kind of great players--Neymar plus Mbappe
Dosdempsz
421
There are always those moments. But I thought Tuchel was right to take him off to have a rest since he already had his goal and he needed to introduce others who doesn't have playing Time.