Adrien Rabiot has risked the wrath of Kylian Mbappe once again following recent comments where he expressed disappointment in the French captain’s performance in the Euro 2024.
Mbappe, who is regarded as one of the best players in the world has had trouble staying on form at the tournament this summer. He only has one goal thus far, which is a penalty against Poland.
After assuming the armband following the 2022 World Cup, Mbappe is leading Les Bleus as captain for the first time in a major tournament. However, he hasn’t been able to motivate his team, as France has only scored three goals in the competition thus far.
Despite their poor goal returns, they managed to make it to the final four, where they will now face Spain on Tuesday.
Rabiot on Kylian Mbappe’s Euro 2024 performance
Ahead of the crucial clash, French midfielder Adrien Rabiot has indicated that Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann need to step up with their performances for Les Bleus to defeat a formidable looking Spanish side.
“This is a team game and even if they are having some troubles, we have reached the semifinal. Team spirit is important and winning as a team is more important than individuals,” Rabiot said, per The Mirror.
“For Kylian and Antoine, maybe their legs aren’t as fresh as they could be, but we are 100% behind them. We have blind faith in them. They are players can change a game at any point. When we have the captain [Mbappé] or Antoine experiencing a rough patch, it’s fine, we are there to support them.
“But obviously it would be easier if Kylian and Antoine were at the top of their game, which has not been the case so far. I think everyone is surprised because we know what he [Griezmann] is capable of.
“We saw what he did at the last World Cup, when he was possibly at his peak. I don’t know how to explain this spell, maybe physically he is not doing as well.
”Obviously we have [high] expectations with Antoine, we expect a lot more from him because he is capable of giving a lot more. But are we able to win without a great Antoine? We have a high level team.”
Potential impact of Rabiot’s comments
Rabiot’s comments risks the possibility of rekindling a feud that developed between his family and Mbappe’s parents when France were eliminated from the 2020 European Championship.
Les Bleus lost on penalties to Switzerland in the round of 16, with Kylian Mbappe missing his spot-kick. A footage showed Rabiot’s mother in a heated altercation with Mbappe’s father as it was later revealed that she labelled the former Paris Saint Germain star arrogant following his penalty miss.
Rabiot, however down played reports of any clash between his family and Mbappe’s but his recent remark might not go down well with the 25-year-old forward, hence reigniting a feud between both parties.
