Kylian Mbappe reveals he tells himself he is better than BOTH Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as his motivation before matches… but the PSG forward admits the star duo have ‘done a billion more things than me’
- Mbappe has opened up on his methods of boosting his self-belief before games
- He tells himself he is the best despite sharing a pitch with other great players
- The 22-year-old is widely tipped to become the best player in the world in future
- Mbappe would be looking to take that mantle from Ronaldo, 36, and Messi, 33
Kylian Mbappe has revealed he tells himself he is the best player in the world – better than both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo – when he steps onto a pitch to help him ‘topple mountains’.
The Paris Saint-Germain star, 22, is widely tipped to become the best player in the world, a title Messi and Ronaldo have fought over in the last 15 years.
Barcelona forward Messi and Juventus forward Ronaldo have won 11 of the 12 Ballon d’Or titles since 2008, breaking numerous goalscoring records in their club and international careers.
Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe has revealed his method of boosting self-belief
The France international, 22, tells himself he is the best before he steps onto the football field
But Mbappe has already won a World Cup, a feat neither has yet managed, and admitted he talks himself up to stoke his self-belief during matches.
He told RMC Sport: ‘The ego? Of course, it’s important because when you’re in the rough, no one else is going to push you. And you have to convince yourself that you are capable of toppling mountains.
‘It’s just you and your mindset. It’s just you. You have to convince yourself you are capable of doing great things. Every time I go on a pitch I always tell myself I’m the best and yet I have played on grounds where there was Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
In his head, he believes he is better than Cristiano Ronaldo (left) and Lionel Messi (right)
Mbappe has already won a World Cup, in Russia in summer 2018, unlike Ronaldo and Messi
‘They are better players than me, they have done a billion more things than me. But, in my head, I always tell myself I’m the best because that way you don’t give yourself limits and you try to give your best.’
‘The ego is not just giving a friend a penalty, having a better salary than the player of the rival team. It’s also in the preparation. It’s a personal thing, to surpass yourself, it’s way beyond that superficial thing of saying “me, me”.’
Despite his tender age, Mbappe has already won ten domestic trophies, plus the Russia World Cup in 2018, where he starred for Didier Deschamps’ side and became only the second teenager, after Pele, to score in a World Cup final.
The Frenchman has scored 120 goals in 160 games at the French giants since moving from Monaco in 2017, with 151 in 232 across his entire club career.
Ronaldo, 36, has 668 in 886, while Messi, 33, has 674 in 800 and the pair are the record all-time scorers for Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively, but Mbappe could well catch and surpass their tallies if he continues his upward trajectory.
PSG host Lille in a crucial Ligue 1 clash on Saturday evening, with Christophe Galtier’s outfit second on goal difference, before travelling to Bayern for their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday.
