Kylian Mbappe is ready to right the wrongs of 2021.
Mbappe could be forgiven for feeling a little déjà vu ahead of this summer’s European Championships, with the weight of a nation’s expectations once again resting on his shoulders – and Real Madrid lurking in the background.
France are considered one of the favorites for Euro 2024 after their last appearance at the 2022 World Cup, where Mbappe scored a thrilling hat-trick.
And he will desperately try to exorcise the memory of their miserable exit from Euro 2020 in one of the most pulsating games of the tournament.
In the first knockout round after a 3-3 draw in Bucharest, Switzerland emerged victorious against the then world champions after Yann Sommer saved Mbappé’s penalty under dramatic circumstances.
Karim Benzema had equalized for France just before the hour, canceling out Haris Seferovic’s early goal, before scoring again two minutes later.
Paul Pogba then released the ball from distance and fired the ball into the top corner before the Swiss two late goals from Seferovic and Mario Gavranovic sent the game to penalties.
Switzerland had scored all five of their penalties before the French golden boy scored Les Bleus’s decisive spot-kick and suddenly put the game away.
But fans were shocked when the Paris Saint-Germain star flicked his shot somewhat tamely to the left, allowing Sommer to make a spectacular save and beat the hot favorite to win the entire tournament.
Mbappe appeared heartbroken after winning the World Cup with France just three years earlier, where he became the second teenager ever to score in the final after legendary Brazilian striker Pelé.
However, what followed was despicable: the Frenchman revealed he almost quit international football after receiving numerous racist abuse.
In October 2021, he said: “I realized that it was my ego that made us lose, that I wanted to take up too much space and that without me we might have won because of that.”
“The most important thing is the French national team and if the French national team is happier without me, [I’ll go].
“I met with the president and we talked about it. I complained to him about being insulted and called a ‘monkey’ because I missed a penalty.”
“It’s not the same. I will never complain about a penalty. I missed the penalty.”
The summer of 2021 didn’t end there for Mbappé, however, as Real Madrid launched a frontal attack on his signing from PSG, making a stunning €200m (£171m) offer on deadline day.
The transfer fee would have made him the second most expensive player of all time, behind Neymar, who moved from Barcelona to PSG for £200 million in August 2017.
PSG refused the money even though the striker’s contract expired the following summer, believing he would sign a new deal, a premonition that seemed bold at the time but turned out to be true.
At the time, PSG director Leonardo even admitted that Mbappe wanted to leave and was desperate to move to Real Madrid.
However, 12 months later, the Paris-born superstar had tied his short-term future to the Ligue 1 giants, signing a lucrative two-year contract extension worth almost £1m a week.
It only seemed to delay the inevitable – that a move to Madrid was imminent at some point – and that PSG had battened down the hatches with extreme necessity.
It has brought us to this point, at the crux of another European Championship and another transfer saga in the summer of 2024.
He is now on the verge of winning the Champions League title.
In 2021, Man City ended their dream in the semi-finals and are once again in the last four.
This time, however, City is out and Borussia Dortmund stands in the way of a final entry.
And if successful, the football gods appear to have created a outrageous scenario that could even lead to Mbappe playing in the final against Real Madrid on June 1st.
Now 25, Mbappe has experienced more than most players will ever experience in their lives, and the memories of Bucharest will be as vivid as ever in Germany this summer.
This time, however, he can right the wrongs of 2021 – by winning the Champions League, leading France to the European Championship and finally moving to Real Madrid.