What's eating Kylian Mbappe? Out-of-sorts PSG superstar needs to find some form with France

Kylian Mbappe was one mishit away from one of the goals of the season. In Paris Saint-Germain's clash with Rennes on Sunday, the Frenchman did all of his typical things. He burned one defender with a diagonal run, controlled Achraf Hakimi's pass in stride, cut to his left, before pushing the other way past one defender. The keeper rushed out but he, too, was left sprawling on the floor.

And then came the miss. Mbappe was almost moving too fast, drawing himself too wide of the net. So, he couldn't get his foot around the ball, and launched it well over the bar. It mattered little in the context of the game, which the Parisians comfortably won 3-1. It will also likely mean next-to-nothing come the end of the season, as Mbappe's side will probably still stroll through Ligue 1.

But for a forward widely considered the best in the world not named Erling Haaland, it was an oddity. The raw statistics still suggest that Mbappe is having another outrageous season. He has scored eight in nine appearances in all competitions and found the net twice against Lyon.

Indeed, going four in a row without scoring is hardly cause for immense concern. But there's something different about Mbappe this season. There was always going to be an immense amount of chatter here, when the France captain opted to stay at PSG for (at least) one more year, yet again spurning Real Madrid's interest. And under a new manager, with the spectre of an uncertain future following him around, Mbappe isn't quite himself.