"The hype around Mbappé and Yamal is the reason for his frustration": could the Barcelona clash be a turning point in the PSG star's season?
A final chance or the start of a crisis?
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has lost his place in the Paris Saint-Germain starting line-up since the start of the season, his form the reason why. Tuesday's Champions League clash with Barcelona offers a chance to put that right, on the kind of stage where he has so often delivered.
His inconsistent displays sparked debate on the "L'After Foot" programme on RMC, with the guests asking the question ahead of kick-off: will Kvaratskhelia answer back once more by turning up in a big match?
One of the key architects of PSG's second Champions League title last year, the Georgian has endured a difficult start to the 2026-2027 campaign. A European showdown against Barcelona arrives at just the right moment to test his ability to respond.
Troubled mind: Kvaratskhelia's inconsistent form "unacceptable"
Former Lyon and Saint-Étienne player François Clerc said on the programme on Monday evening: "If Kvara starts the match, he will play a big game. In terms of behaviour, we feel he is playing with a (confused) head, and that he is not present. We feel a kind of unease. He has produced good matches in the French league, but he is disappointing now anyway."
Journalist Daniel Riolo, meanwhile, believes the gulf in the Georgian's level between the French league and the Champions League could become a problem.
"If he plays (against Barcelona) and, as usual (in the Champions League), he is good, then I think that after a while the message will be: stop doing that," he said.
Kvaratskhelia appears to pick his matches, Riolo explained, caring little for French league fixtures. That is why his level swings between the two competitions.
He added: "We agree that there is a theory about players choosing their matches, and we overlook it calmly because we realised that no one cared about the French league at Paris Saint-Germain. But this would be a very big thing, even too much. In the French league, he is really average. If he is good tomorrow and I were the coach, I would not accept that."
The buzz around the Ballon d'Or may be the cause of the frustration
Journalist and technical analyst Florent Gautreau believes Luis Enrique may leave Kvaratskhelia on the bench and keep piling pressure on him, with the Georgian yet to rediscover his required level and attitude. Even so, Gautreau expects him to come back later as an outstanding player and to reclaim his starting place both domestically and in Europe.
Journalist and analyst Walid Acherchour, meanwhile, could find no explanation for the dip. "This year, he did not take part in the World Cup, and he had an ideal preparation, so how do we explain that Kvara, who could be among the top five candidates for the Ballon d'Or, is no longer able, against Strasbourg, to even attempt a dribble in a one-on-one situation?" he said.
Gautreau offered a possible answer. "There is something we underestimated in all our discussions about the Ballon d'Or: when he arrived at the start of the season, he may have seen himself as a candidate, but in the big machine of everyone's nomination campaigns (Mbappe, Yamal and Dembele), he saw that they were no longer talking about him."
He added: "That is perhaps why his level dropped (because of frustration) while he was expecting a huge start to the season after missing out on the World Cup."
