Real Madrid Have Dominated Football In Recent Years – Mbappe

Kylian Mbappe has said that Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo was his “idol” as a child but hopes he and his Paris Saint-Germain teammates can “send a message to the world” by scoring a landmark Champions League win at the home of the club that also tried to sign him last summer.

Champions League holders Real showed a strong interest in the France international and Mbappe told Marca: “There were a lot of transfer rumours, it’s true that we spoke, but I think that is now in the past for me and for Real Madrid. Now I play at PSG and I’m going to defend these colours 100 percent.

“I chose PSG because it’s the team of my city, it’s like if a madrileno [Madrid born] boy of [Real] Madrid has the opportunity to play for his team and goes elsewhere, to another country. I wanted to play for PSG and I’m very happy with how things are going.”
Mbappe believes his team can overtake Real and become “the best team in the world.”

He said: “I’m very young. There’s time but as I say, I want to play in the best team in the world in the future and I believe PSG has everything to achieve that. If this team grows with me, there is no reason to leave.”

“Real have dominated football in recent years but it’s not just them now,” Mbappe said. “There are other big teams, like [Manchester] City, Juventus, Bayern [Munich] and we are also there. But I believe the team that wins our tie will be clear favourites to win the Champions League. If we are capable of eliminating Real then the other teams will fear us.”

“We’ve had a very good group stage and we have the opportunity to prove to the world that we can eliminate the team that successfully defended the Champions League,” Mbappe said. “There is no pressure, not at all, the pressure doesn’t fall on us.

“We will go there to play our game, show our football and give everything to qualify. We are two of the best teams in the world. Real are the best team in the world, they have won the Champions League two times in a row and we are growing.

“I think it’s going to be a great tie and we will go to the Bernabeu determined to qualify. We respect every team but as soon as we arrive at the Bernabeu, there will no more respect. It will be a case of showing our quality.”