Paris Saint-Germain is struggling to find its rhythm in the preparation without Kylian Mbappé. After the earlier 0-0 draw against Al-Nassr, the French top club suffered a defeat on Friday against Cerezo Osaka with a score of 2-3. Two familiar faces were on target for the Japanese team.
As known, PSG has decided not to take Mbappé along on their training camp to Japan. The 24-year-old French striker does not want to extend his contract with PSG, and the club is looking to receive a transfer fee for Mbappé, who is contracted with them until mid-2024. Reportedly, Al-Hilal made an astronomical offer of around 300 million euros for the international player, but the former AS Monaco player is not interested in a move to Saudi Arabia.
In the first friendly match of the preparation against Le Havre (a 2-0 win), Mbappé came on as a substitute and scored the second goal for trainer Luis Enrique's team. However, against Al-Nassr, PSG failed to score, and in the match against Cerezo Osaka, goals from Hugo Ekitike and Vitinha were not enough for victory. On the Japanese side, Jordy Croux, a former player of clubs like MVV and Willem II, canceled out the opening goal of the French team, and Sota Kitano followed the example of the Belgian by equalizing the score at 2-2.
The decisive goal came from Shinji Kagawa. The now 34-year-old midfielder, with a past at Borussia Dortmund, Manchester United, and the Belgian club Sint-Truiden, shot Cerezo Osaka to a surprising victory over PSG in the final moments.
PSG will continue its preparation with matches against Champions League finalist Internazionale and Jeonbuk from South Korea. The Ligue 1 season for the reigning champions will begin with a home game against Lorient on August 12th.
