This is the last image that will remain of Kylian Mbappé in a clasico. For his final match against Olympique de Marseille in the colors of PSG, the Parisian star did not particularly shine. A tasteless match, and a colorful exit in the 64th minute. A gesture of spite, an armband at the end of the hand, and swearing at who-knows-who. All in the pouring rain.
After a solid victory 10 against 11 on the pitch of the Vélodrome, this outing could have turned out to be anecdotal, as we saw Mbappé all smiles at the end of the meeting. But around 11:15 p.m., the photo of his exit posted by number 7 on Instagram for his 113 million followers will tarnish the evening. The photo, looking very sullen, is neither captioned nor credited, while his teammates share their cries of joy. A cliché that has become a symbol of the end of Mbappé’s story in the capital.
“Everything lined up perfectly”
Its author Johnny Fidelin remembers it… as if it were Sunday evening. “I was on the side at 16m because we knew that if Mbappé scored, he would come and celebrate his joy on the opposite side of the bench towards the penalty area line. It’s not an exact science, but it happens very often,” explains the man who has covered PSG matches since 2015.
But the photographer, who works for the Icon Sport agency, will not be able to immortalize Mbappé, silent that evening, shaking the nets: “During a stoppage in play, I see Mbappé starting to put his hands on hips. And I understand that he is going to go out, and that he looks upset. So I follow him in photos, that’s my job. But it’s true that with the typography of the jersey, the rain falling, the way of holding the armband… I didn’t choose this composition, but everything lined up perfectly to get this shot! »
The rest of the work to make the photo famous is the Parisian star himself who does it on social networks. “I was in the car on the way back when they sent me the photo. I immediately compared it to make sure it was mine, says the photographer. I had a colleague 5m away from me, but he couldn’t get the same angle. So it was my photo. I was very surprised because two PSG photographers were present. In general, players use club photos. As soon as he posted it, I knew straight away that it was going to get people talking. More than the goal of Vitinha or Ramos. More than victory! »
Two days later, the photo has already accumulated more than 3.6 million likes on Instagram, ultimately to the great pleasure of its author: “This is the first time that one of my photos has stood out so much. »