PSG coach Enrique being proved right as he stands firm in an era of player power
Mbappe could find himself on the bench again when runaway French league leader Paris Saint-Germain faces rock-bottom Clermont on Saturday. Mbappe is the league top scorer with 24 goals and Clermont has the second-worst defense of the 18 top-flight teams with 46 conceded. It is a golden opportunity for Mbappe, PSG's all-time leading scorer with 251 goals, to add to his tally.
But PSG coach Luis Enrique does not think that way.
His priority is next week's showdown against Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals at Parc des Princes.
Enrique showed his authority in recent weeks by either putting Mbappe on the bench or taking him off during important games.
It seemed perplexing.
Mbappe was substituted at halftime away to high-flying Monaco on March 1 with the score 0-0.
Last Sunday, the France striker could not believe it when Enrique took him off against Marseille midway through the second half.
Mbappe was not the only one stunned by the audacity of Enrique's move.
To some PSG fans it was akin to sacrilege to substitute PSG's best player in a match against its arch foe, even more so with the score delicately poised at 1-0 and with PSG already a player down following a sending off.
A dismayed Mbappe appeared to mutter an obscenity at Enrique as he left the rain-sodden field, with the apparent insult quickly doing the rounds on social networks and the French media latching onto it in a flash.
Enrique looked unflustered as Mbappe walked past him at Stade Velodrome and then calmly batted
