Thomas Tuchel has revealed Kylian Mbappe and Adrien Rabiot were dropped for Paris St Germain’s record-equalling 2-0 win against Marseille on disciplinary grounds.
The France internationals came on as second-half substitutes as PSG matched a long-standing European record of 11 wins at the start of a season, with Mbappe opening the scoring three minutes after his arrival.
After Julian Draxler had added a second with the final kick of the match, PSG manager Tuchel said the pair had been omitted for turning up late to a pre-match team briefing.
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“It’s a disciplinary decision [for Rabiot and Mbappe],” Tuchel said at his post-match press conference. “The collective is always more important than individuals.
“I hate playing without Kylian in a match like that. He gave a good answer, but I do not like it. It’s a bit difficult.”
The outstanding Mbappe has now scored 14 goals in 15 games for club and country this season.
His 65th-minute strike, slotting low past Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda after bursting onto Angel Di Maria’s pass, was his 10th league goal in seven appearances.
“The team needed this victory,” Mbappe told Canal+ after PSG had matched Tottenham’s record of 11 straight wins at the start of the 1960-61 season – the best in Europe’s top five leagues.
“A great team relies on leaders and they need to make a difference in key moments.
“I think I can take on that role and I did it today. We must continue and stay on the right path. We are competitors and we want to go down in history.”
Marseille remain fifth after a fourth defeat of the season ended a run of two league victories. The hosts played without a recognised centre-forward and yet had the better of the first-half chances.
“We did well in the first half, but we left too much space in the second,” defender Adil Rami said. “We must use this defeat to progress.
“We managed to create opportunities even without an attacker.”
Midfielder Kevin Strootman felt his disallowed second-half effort should have stood after the referee whistled for an off-the-ball infringement on PSG’s Marquinhos, who collided with Strootman.
The Dutchman was booked for demanding the referee go to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for a second opinion and he said: “The video speaks for itself. The VAR is there and you have to use it. I do not make a mistake. On games like this, these are decisions that change a match.
“We fought and we did everything we could to get a point. We must continue like this.”
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