One year ago, Kylian Mbappe was celebrating an extremely controversial goal against Newcastle United.
The World Cup winner faced Newcastle United twice last season, and did not have much joy against the Magpies.
His visit to St James’ Park ended in humiliation, with Newcastle beating Paris Saint-Germain 4-1. It was arguably the best night in Newcastle United’s history, with the Magpies embarrassing Kylian Mbappe.
He did get a little bit of revenge in the second match, netting a last-minute penalty to snatch victory away from Newcastle United. However, PSG never should have been given a penalty, with Tino Livramento wrongly judged to have handled it in the area.
Now Mbappe is a Real Madrid player, having swapped Paris for the Spanish capital during the summer.
It was a blockbuster transfer, with Mbappe joining the likes of Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior at the Santiago Bernabeu.
However, the forward’s move has not quite gone to plan. His goal return is alright, with Mbappe scoring nine in 18 so far.
But he should have got his 10th on Wednesday night, as his penalty against Liverpool was saved by Caoimhin Kelleher. The Reds beat Real Madrid 2-0, as Mbappe endured more misery on English shores.
Shaka Hislop compares Kylian Mbappe’s Real Madrid situation to Tino Asprilla at Newcastle United
As Mbappe continues to struggle in a Real Madrid shirt, questions are starting to be asked over whether Los Blancos regret signing the 25-year-old.
This has been debated on the ESPN FC YouTube channel, with former Newcastle United goalkeeper Shaka Hislop asked if any of his clubs ever signed a superstar that did not work out and ultimately hindered the team.
“When we signed Tino Asprilla in that 1995/96 season, it changed everything about how we played,” he said.
“Because we played one up front with Les Ferdinand, with Beardsley in behind and two wingers. Ginola, who didn’t defend and Keith Gillespie on the other side and then all of a sudden we signed Tino Asprilla.
“And now you have to kind of juggle that, figure that out, because he’s going to play, Les is playing, so you have two up front, Beardsley sitting behind and we just start conceding too much. We struggled on the road in the second half of that season.
“Don’t get me wrong, Tino was an incredible player. You could kind of understand it because if Les got injured we didn’t have that kind of firepower on the bench. So you understood the signing of Tino Asprilla and at the very least, to have that player.
“But then Les never got injured, we never had an injury crisis and you’re trying all of a sudden to figure out a formation to suit everybody.”
Tino Asprilla’s Newcastle United career
When Newcastle United signed Tino Asprilla, Kevin Keegan was trying to bring the Premier League title to St James’ Park. The Magpies were top of the league at the time of his transfer, as Asprilla arrived on Tyneside for £6.9million from Parma in February 1996.
Even his arrival was iconic, with the Colombian forward arriving to sign his Newcastle United contract as the North East encountered a snowstorm.
Asprilla got an assist on his debut, but was unable to fire ‘The Entertainers’ towards the Premier League title.
Despite Newcastle’s best intentions, Hislop says Asprilla’s Toon transfer had the opposite effect. However, it is harsh to suggest that his arrival is the reason Keegan’s side missed out on the title.
The Magpies lost their lead to Manchester United, ending the season in second place.
In total, Asprilla made 61 appearances for Newcastle, scoring 18 goals. Three of them came against Barcelona, as he netted an iconic hat-trick in a 3-2 win over Barcelona. Until the 2023 win over PSG, that was probably Newcastle’s best moment in modern history.
Asprilla was sold by Newcastle in February 1998, as he returned to Parma.
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