Kylian Mbappe has made an unexpectedly quick recovery from injury and PSG coach Christophe Galtier hopes he can face Bayern Munich on Tuesday in the first leg of their round-of-16 Champions League clash.
The World Cup superstar was expected to be out for three weeks after tearing a muscle in his left thigh on Feb. 1 and the jet-heeled forward’s speedy return has surprised Galtier.
“Kylian trained with the squad today and completed the whole session. I didn’t think he would be ready,” Galtier said at Monday’s news conference.
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“We took the decision to let him take part if he felt ready. We’re not quite sure if he’ll be on the team sheet, we’ll see tomorrow morning.”
Mbappe won’t be on the bench for the sake of it.
“We’ll ask Kylian if he feels ready, Kylian’s made a huge effort, if he’s on the team sheet it means he’s ready,” Galtier said.
Neymar hopes to line up alongside Mbappe and Lionel Messi, who has shaken off a sore hamstring.
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“Kylian is an extremely important player for us, he’s a star,” Neymar said through a translator.
“Obviously we feel stronger when all three of us are playing.”
Neymar is the world’s most expensive player at 222 million euros ($237 million) but Mbappé is only the second player to have scored a hat trick in a World Cup final.
“I hope Kylian can play for a few minutes. He told me he’s feeling well, so that’s a good sign,” Neymar said. “Our biggest objective is (winning) the Champions League. It’s like the World Cup, if you make the slightest mistake you go out.”
Tensions have been running high at PSG after successive defeats to Marseille in the French Cup and to Monaco in the league on Saturday.
