"We cannot stop Mbappe one on one, it's mission impossible"

Monaco head coach Niko Kovac believes that it will be a struggle to keep the in-form Kylian Mbappe out of their boundaries.

Monaco coach Niko Kovac admitted that it will be a challenge for the team to stop Kylian Mbappe in their clash versus Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday.

The 22-year-old is the leading goalscorer in Ligue 1 with 16 goals so far. And we all witnessed his sublime abilities as he scored a hat-trick against Barcelona on Tuesday night in the Champions League.

Monaco are fourth on the domestic league table having conceded twice as many goals as PSG. Kovac says that his side will have a difficult time to stop Mbappe from his strides at the French capital.

“PSG are a world-class team. They score a lot of goals and Kylian Mbappe is currently in great shape,” he said at a press conference.

“We must try to stop him. But it is not possible to do it with one player. We cannot stop Mbappe one on one. It’s mission impossible. We must be united, we must take care of him together, but that can make other PSG players more free. We have to do a good physical and tactical job to compensate for that.”

🗣 "We cannot stop Mbappe one on one. It's mission impossible" – Monaco boss Niko Kovac

Is Kylian Mbappe cruising to the Ballon d'Or? 🏆 pic.twitter.com/BDyk4bBDWF
— Goal (@goal) February 20, 2021

“We have the second-best attack. Granted, we have the worst defence in the top four right now, but we also have some arguments to make. I think we really have to fight, stay united and above all outperform on Sunday evening, in order to bring something back from the Parc des Princes.”

“If we take this game from the right end and manage to maintain a positive result over the minutes, that will give us the possibilities to bring something back from this trip.”

“I was rather satisfied at the end of the game. Everyone saw the quality of the service delivered by Paris Saint-Germain,” he said.

“We all know that this team is growing, gaining momentum and progressing. We, therefore, expect a difficult match against them, but we do not go admitting defeat. The team will go there to play our match, to try to compete with them.”

“It is difficult to know if this victory will give them even more motivation for the rest of the season. It’s true that the big teams in the top five leagues tend to end up like a cannonball. We see their motivation increase tenfold in the final sprint. So I think this victory will have a positive effect for Paris. I just hope it doesn’t take effect from Sunday’s game.”