Mbappé-Luis Enrique, an incompatible football pairing: "Do you like Michael Jordan? Jordan defended like a son of a bitch."

In a room at Paris Saint-Germain 's training complex, Luis Enrique , standing, greets Kylian Mbappé , who sits in the first of seven rows. The two of them are alone. Five minutes later, the coach asks, " Is that clear ?" The Frenchman says , "Yes," and his manager replies, "Thank you." They don't shake hands, and the team's biggest star leaves. Those five minutes sum up the relationship between Luis Enrique and Mbappé: the Spaniard's passion and intensity, and the lack of rapport between them. Today, PSG and Real Madrid meet again in the Club World Cup semifinals.

That meeting between the two has been one of the most talked about because it was broadcast in the documentary Luis Enrique: You Have No Fucking Idea . A conversation lasting several minutes in which the coach tried to convince Mbappé of the need to get involved in pressing and defensive matters. A scene chosen on purpose. It took place during the 23-24 Champions League quarterfinals against Barcelona . PSG would win that tie but a few days later would lose in the semifinals against Borussia Dortmund , who would be Madrid's opponent in the final at Wembley.

Luis Enrique's speech to Mbappé says it all about the type of player the coach wanted in attack and explains very well why Ousmane Dembélé could lift his first Ballon d'Or next October. "I read that you like Michael Jordan. Jordan used to grab all his teammates by the balls and defend like a son of a bitch . You have to set that example, first as a person and then as a player," Luis Enrique says, standing and gesticulating, to Mbappé, who sits impassively, without speaking.

"that's no good enough for me"

"You think you only have to score goals, you're a phenomenon, a world-class player, but that's no good enough for me. A true leader is someone who, when they can't help us with goals, helps us with everything defensively," he insists. "If you take Ousmane, Barcola, Ramos, or whoever and you use yourself as an example of pressing, do you know what we have? A fucking machine of a team ," Luis Enrique continues, teasing Mbappé with the possible end to his fate in Paris.

"I want you to leave here in style, Kyky , no doubt about it. But you have to earn it . The day you stop attacking, you have to be the best player in history at defending. That's what a leader is, that's Michael Jordan. Is that clear?" the coach concluded.

A few weeks later, Mbappé announced his signing for Madrid, and Luis Enrique celebrated in his own way with this quote: "We're going to improve our results, without a doubt. Having a player (Mbappé) who moved wherever he wanted means there are game situations I don't control. Next year, I'm going to control them all. All of them ."

A premonition of what the season would be like in Paris, with the Champions League title, beating Inter Milan 5-0 in the final, as the icing on the cake. Meanwhile, Mbappé finished the season as the continent's top scorer but was eliminated, along with Real Madrid, in the quarterfinals of the European Cup by Arsenal. The Frenchman had some good knockout rounds, such as against Manchester City , but against the Londoners, he wasn't up to scratch. A general symptom.

In between, Mbappé has been involved in a court battle with PSG and Nasser Al Khelaifi , who has left him a message in the media whenever he could. " Now the star is the team ," the Qatari assured the player during the season, in a direct message to the player. At the time, the PSG president wanted to remove Mbappé for not renewing his contract with the team and Luis Enrique mediated to resolve the conflict, but the fight has now reached the courts over payment of the last part of the player's salary.

A war for 55 million

Mbappé is demanding 55 million in wages and bonuses from PSG and has even accused Al Khelaifi of " moral harassment " and " extortion " due to the pressure he received during negotiations for his renewal in 2023, a claim that he finally withdrew this week, just before meeting at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, "due to a desire to calm the situation on the legal ground and the desire to concentrate exclusively on the sporting field," according to L'Equipe .

Intensity and pressure, the things Luis Enrique insisted on with Mbappé, have been two of the most repeated words by Xabi Alonso in his month in charge of Real Madrid. The forward, who suffered from severe gastroenteritis in the opening days of the World Cup, has yet to start in the tournament and hopes that moment will arrive this afternoon against his former team.

Gonzalo 's outstanding performance is on the table, both in attack (four goals) and defensively, where he constantly pressures the opponent's exit. Mbappé is unquestionable for Alonso, but he will ask him what Luis Enrique asked of him: to be Michael Jordan in all his facets.