Saint-Denis (AFP)

Another cursed Coupe de France final for Kylian Mbappé: the star striker of PSG, excluded in 2019, suffered an injury Friday during the 2020 edition against Saint-Etienne (1-0), compromising his participation for the "Final 8" of the Champions League, August 12.

The bitter-tasting victory, which had escaped him last year against Rennes (2-2, 6-5 tab) where he had been excluded, should not be enough to silence his anger. The fear of missing the long-awaited quarter-final of the Champions League against Atalanta Bergamo in Lisbon having become a real hypothesis ...

In the space of a few seconds, "KM" may have seen the fate of his season, already truncated by the coronavirus pandemic, switch after the violent tackle of Loïc Perrin, after barely thirty minutes of play. The climax of a new nightmare scenario in the Coupe de France.

Excluded for this gesture after resorting to video refereeing (VAR), the Saint-Etienne captain (34) not only spoiled the last match of his career but also the plans of the Parisians, who were counting on the national cup finals, Friday against Saint-Etienne then July 31 against Lyon, to get back into the rhythm before the big European meeting.

Mad with rage, like the coach Thomas Tuchel on his bench, Mbappé's teammates came to blows with the Stéphanois in a moment of great tension, while Neymar worried about the state of health of the French.

Hit in the right ankle, "KM" limped off the pitch, heading straight for the locker room, his face grimacing. Before returning to sit on the bench at the end of the match ... on crutches.

Enough to plunge the medical staff of PSG, already tested by the previous Neymar in 2018 and 2019, in an agonizing countdown to get their prodigy back on its feet in less than three weeks ...

- Red card in 2019 -

The Parisian club, considered to be one of the serious favorites for the European coronation, could also lose Thilo Kehrer, also released through injury a little earlier in the meeting (20th).

Another bad news for Thomas Tuchel, who has few specialists at the right-back position since the departure of Thomas Meunier on June 30, knowing that Angel Di Maria is also suspended against Atalanta Bergamo. Huge puzzle in perspective.

However everything had started in an ideal way for Mbappé in this final 2020. At the origin of the opening of the score of Neymar (1-0, 14th) at the end of a phenomenal acceleration, the Prince of Bondy had demonstrated his desire to shine by establishing himself as the most dangerous player on the pitch.

However, insufficient to exorcise the bad memory of 2019.

Back a year, when football was played in front of 80,000 spectators in a packed Stade de France: Paris, which nevertheless led 2-0 after 20 minutes of play against Rennes, finally loses its title at the end of an incredible finish.

Just before the penalty shootout, Mbappé loses his nerves on an innocuous action by striking a sole at the height of the knee of Breton defender Damien Da Silva. Red card, Paris finished at ten and lost.

After the meeting, the disciplinary commission of the French Federation inflicts three suspension matches on him, the usual scale for such a gesture. A scenario that he does not hope to relive with the injury, under penalty of seeing a participation in C1 fly off at the worst time ...

© 2020 AFP