PSG Coach Says PSG Are Better Now Without Kylian Mbappe | OneFootball

Luis Enrique is confident Paris Saint-Germain are better off without Kylian Mbappé.

Mbappé bid farewell to PSG for Real Madrid last summer after a seven-year stint with the French giants. The 26-year-old played an integral part in PSG's Ligue 1 dominance and departed Paris as the club's all-time leading goalscorer.

Many questioned how PSG would survive without the France captain, but Enrique confidently claimed the team would thrive. In fact, he recently doubled down on his sentiments amid PSG's first season without their former captain.

“I was very brave last season when I told you we’d have a better team in attack and defense," Enrique said. "I still think we’re better in attack and defense, the figures are there to say it. The players took it as a challenge.”

PSG already have a 10 point gap atop the Ligue 1 standings and have yet to suffer a single defeat this domestic season. The team has also bagged 54 league goals through February, only 27 less than the total goals they scored (81) last year with Mbappé.

"Of course we would have liked to keep Kylian, because everyone loved [him], but the team is responding very positively, at a spectacular level," he continued. "I told you that rather than having a player who scores 40 goals, I wanted players who all score a lot. That’s our aim, to keep improving."

Ousmane Dembélé leads the way for PSG with 14 Ligue 1 goals and Bradley Barcola is right behind him with 11. Defensively, the team has conceded just 19 goals in domestic play this season . It is no secret Mbappé was never one to aggressively get back when PSG lost possession, and the team seems more bought in on defense this year.

While PSG might be cruising through Ligue 1 without Mbappé, they are still struggling in the Champions League. Enrique's men started off their European campaign with just one win in their first five matches and had to win their last three games to punch their ticket to the knockout phase playoffs.

It remains to be seen if PSG can rise to the occasion in the Champions League this season, especially since they never even lifted the trophy with Mbappé in their team.