Paris [France], June 4 : On an emotional night in Paris, the Ligue 1 winners Paris Saint Germain ended their campaign with a 3-2 defeat against Clermont Foot. But between smiles and goodbyes, there was a common theme throughout the game - Sergio Rico.
Last week the Spanish goalkeeper was hospitalized with a head injury after being hit by a loose horse in an accident in Spain. The entire crowd showed their support by holding a tifo of Sergio Rico's eight-number jersey. For the majority of the game, the entire Parc des Princes sang at the top of its lungs for Sergio Rico.
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Kylian Mbappe paid tribute to his teammate by holding his jersey in his hands in front of the entire stadium after scoring his 29th goal of the season.
"I think that everyone across the world has tried to support Sergio because above being players or belonging to a club, we're all human beings, and with this, I don't think there's any place for club tribalism. Everyone has supported us. Of course, the Parc was extraordinary tonight," Mbappe said as quoted by psg.com.
"People really had him in their thoughts. Now, we just need to pray as much as possible and send him as many good vibes as possible. This situation has affected us throughout the week. In training, it's all we've been thinking and talking about. We've been waiting for the slightest bit of news, and we'll obviously wait for some hopefully positive news to arrive," Mbappe added.
PSG manager Christophe Galtier also reflected on how his team wanted to send a message of support to Rico as well as his family.
"We wanted to send a message of support to Sergio, of course, as well as to his wife, to his mum and to all of his loved ones. Sergio is fighting day after day, and the club has gone about things very well. The fans went about things very well throughout the game. Of course, it ended in defeat," Galtier said.
In order to show their respect PSG have cancelled their Ligue 1 trophy celebrations out of respect for Rico.
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