MBAPPE FINISHES THE JOB

AGAIN, it took Dortmund until the second half to show. You can hardly blame them. Eight days after the bomb attack on their team coach, French police kept the squad waiting for 22 minutes before the game in the one place they did not want to be — the team coach. Club officials said the delay was ‘without justification’ and, while kick-off was put back five minutes, it took another 45 for the Germans to emerge from their daze. By then it was too late. They were trailing 2-0 at the break, just as they were in the hastily rescheduled first leg, and the tie was gone by the time captain Marco Reus halved the deficit on the night. It is unfair on this exciting, young Monaco side that events off the pitch have distracted from their brilliance on it, but this has not been a fair contest. It took less than three minutes for 18-year-old Kylian Mbappe (above) to become the youngest ever player to find the net in both legs of a Champions League quarter-final. That is 14 goals in as many matches. It took just nine seconds of a devastating counter-attack for three of Europe’s brightest talents to lay on the second for Radamel Falcao. Thomas Lemar burst over halfway and found left back Mendy. He fizzed a pass into Mbappe and his lay-off was collected by Lemar, who swept on to the forehead of Falcao to nod in from 10 yards. Lemar, 21, and Mendy, 22, were the subject of interest from Chelsea scouts in the stands, but they would have added Mbappe to their watchlist. He made way on 80 minutes, with replacement Valere Germain making it 3-1 seconds later.