Mbappe reacts to playing against ‘idol’ Ronaldo in Nations League draw

Kylian Mbappe heaped praise upon ‘idol’ Cristiano Ronaldo after coming up against the Portugal attacker in France‘s Nations League stalemate on Sunday. 

Despite both forwards having solid efforts at goal, neither team could find the breakthrough in a fairly even contest. 

While there were no goals to speak of, Mbappe and Ronaldo still managed to provide plenty of entertainment with the duo clearly savouring their personal match-up. 

At the beginning of the second half, the pair were filmed in a friendly exchange with the Frenchman’s smile suggesting Ronaldo’s remarks were possibly quite cheeky. 

— Goal (@goal) October 11, 2020

The superstars last faced off against one another in March 2018 when Real Madrid took on Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last-16. 

Since then, Ronaldo has joined Serie A giants Juventus and Mbappe has established himself as one of the game’s great talents with a World Cup already to his name. 

Mbappe has previously expressed his admiration for Ronaldo and took to social media after their latest match to label the Portugal star his ‘idol’. 

Ronaldo himself commented on the post with a fist-bump emoji as the pair’s relationship clearly begins to blossom. 

Speaking before the match on Sunday, France manager Didier Deschamps stressed that it was too soon to compare Mbappe to the Juventus icon . 

“He [Ronaldo] was his idol. But I think that Cristiano was and is the idol of many young football players,” Deschamps said. 

“It’s difficult to compare them. Cristiano has been playing for many years at the highest level. They aren’t the same age. I think it will be better to make a comparison when Kylian will be as old as Cristiano is now. 

“They are two players who are able to be decisive for their team at any moment. It is a strength of Cristiano and it is also one of Kylian, even if he is younger. They both are top players.”

Deschamps was relieved post-match that France had managed to keep Ronaldo relatively quiet as he once again failed to fire against Les Bleus. 

“We can always do better, then there is the quality of the opponent too. They take precautions like us, with respect to the players opposite like Cristiano, who we didn’t see too much tonight,” Deschamps told M6.