Paris Saint-Germain beat St Etienne to win the French Cup final on Friday night - but it came at a cost.
It was the first time football had returned to France since the coronavirus pandemic but Neymar’s 14th-minute strike proved to be the only goal of the game.
However, the horrific tackle from St Etienne captain Loic Perrin on Kylian Mbappe in the 26th-minute is perhaps the bigger talking point the morning after.
Mbappe surged past Perrin before the defender produced a terrible challenge to bring the superstar down.
Mbappe screamed in agony before a mass brawl broke out between the two sets of players.
Incredibly, Perrin was only shown a yellow card initially from the referee but it was soon upgraded to a red after a VAR check.
The PSG forward limped off the pitch before he was later seen on crutches and in a protective boot.
Thomas Tuchel’s side face Lyon in the Coupe de la Ligue final before they restart their quest to win their first ever Champions League. On August 12, PSG face Atalanta in the quarter-finals ahead of a potential semi-final clash against Atletico Madrid or RB Leipzig.
Will Mbappe be fit?
Well, after the match he claimed that it was “cracked” but not broken.
And a slow-motion replay has emerged that makes that suggestion pretty remarkable. The replay shows Mbappe’s foot gets caught under Perrin’s knee and bend awkwardly under the defender’s weight.
Take a look:
It’s remarkable if Mbappe gets away without a broken ankle, there.
Unsurprisingly, Tuchel wasn’t particularly impressed with Saint-Etienne’s rough tactics.
"We have to wait. I have no news from Kylian Mbappé," Tuchel said in his post-match interview.
“This season we have played three times against Saint-Étienne. There have been three red cards and this is happening more and more during the first 30 minutes, not at the end of the game when the players are tired. Today, it started with Neymar and ended with Kylian. It's something I can't understand.”
As football fans, we wish Mbappe make a speedy recovery and returns in time to help PSG attempt to win the Champions League for the first time.