Kylian Mbappe denies criticising Paris Saint-Germain teammate Neymar after Brazilian stretchered off against Lille

With Paris Saint-Germain enduring a tricky run of form and fixtures, star forward Kylian Mbappe says that the last thing he and his teammates need is his internal divisions.

Unfortunately for him, the France striker’s words following PSG’s 1-0 first-leg Champions League defeat against Bayern Munich – telling his teammates to eat and sleep well – were interpreted as a dig at teammate and Brazilian star Neymar.

Mbappe spoke to Canal+ after Tuesday’s match, saying: “Everyone needs to be healthy, sleep well, eat well. We can do something there. If we are more offensive, they are uncomfortable. Let’s quickly move on and go again.”

This was widely seen to be an indirect allusion to Neymar’s off-field behaviour.

The following evening, Neymar competed in a poker tournament before finishing his evening with a celebratory social media post at a McDonald’s restaurant.

After the match, alongside Prime Video Sport France pundit Thierry Henry, Mbappe was asked about his previous quotes.

Mbappe clarified enthusiastically, saying: “[They were] for everyone. For everyone! I’ve seen people talking about Ney and what happened afterwards…it was not a dig or anything. I think in the context we are in now, we need anything but digs. It’s really advice for everyone because, as I said, when we have everyone, other teams have problems. So I hope Ney will come back soon because he’s a fundamental player for us.”

Neymar has scored 17 goals and assisted 13 more this season but he has blown rather hot and cold; he had scored just once since the World Cup before his contributions against Lille.

PSG travel to Munich for the second leg of their tie against the German champions on March 8, and they will be desperately hoping that Neymar will recover in time to take part.