Mbappe hits hat-trick to leave Messi in the shade
Barcelona Messi 27 pen 1-4 Paris St-germain Mbappe 32, 65, 85 Kean 70
If this is to be the final European adventure for Lionel Messi in a Barcelona shirt, then it might well be remembered as the season in which the crown was ripped from his head. Kylian Mbappe is coming for him, and all the rest of them, and it was striking to see how clearly the Paris St-germain striker outshone Barcelona’s illustrious forwards.
Messi has been the dominant player of the past 10 years, and Mbappe will surely be the leading man of the coming decade. At 22, he plays with an explosiveness that Messi, 33, could not replicate at Camp Nou.
Mbappe led the way for PSG, producing one of the great European hat-tricks of recent years, while Messi faded from this game like a light bulb losing power.
Not since Andriy Shevchenko in 1997 has an opposition player scored a Champions League hat-trick away against Barcelona. Mbappe made it look easy. The speed of his running, the imagination of his dribbling, the utter ruthlessness of his finishing: it was nothing short of a masterclass.
“We all need to enjoy Kylian,” said Barcelona’s Antoine Griezmann. “PSG have a player who will be of the class of Leo and Cristiano Ronaldo.”
Mauricio Pochettino’s first Champions League match in charge of the French side will go down as his first statement victory. Yes, Barcelona are a club in chaos, with the finances in disarray and Messi almost certain to leave at the end of the season, but they are still Barcelona.
Messi scored from the penalty spot early on to give his side the lead, but, if anything, that just seemed to anger Mbappe. With the imperious Marco Verratti controlling proceedings in midfield, the Frenchman had a platform that Messi lacked. By the end, as Mbappe collected the match ball, there would not have been a single PSG supporter thinking of the injured Neymar.
A note of caution for PSG: they have been here before, when they famously surrendered a 4-0 first-leg lead to Barcelona in 2017. The memories of that defeat will rise to the surface in the coming days but there was nothing in their performance to suggest that such a collapse could happen again. Not on Mbappe’s watch, anyway.
“We wanted to come here and win,” he said. “We did that in style. Tonight was magnificent. But we have not won anything yet. The coach has done a great job since he joined, but he has continued the work of Thomas Tuchel who started an extraordinary job.”
Where does this all leave Ronald Koeman? In the battle of the former Southampton managers, his team looked feeble. “We have to accept it,” he said. “They have shown that they have a more complete team than us.”
Barcelona had started the evening relatively well. Messi briefly switched from walking pace to destruction mode midway through the first half, playing the pass that led to his penalty when Frenkie de
Jong was tripped by Layvin Kurzawa. PSG came back strongly and Verratti’s flick soon found Mbappe in the box. His close control allowed him to shimmy between the home side’s defenders and then slam a high finish into the top corner.
His second goal, after the break, was far more simple. Gerard Pique’s fluffed clearance fell into his path and Mbappe calmly passed his finish into the net. Moise Kean then headed in the third, from a Leandro Paredes delivery, before Mbappe completed his breathtaking hattrick with a curling finish into the top corner.
(4-3-3) Ter Stegen 5, Dest 6 (Mingueza 71), Pique 5 (Puig 78), Lenglet 5, Alba 6; De Jong 6, Busquets 5 (Pjanic 78), Pedri 6 (Trincao 78); Dembele 5, Messi 6, Griezmann 5 (Braithwaite 85). Neto, Pjanic, Fernandes, Umtiti, Firpo, Pena.
(4-3-3) Navas 6; Florenzi 7 (Kehrer 89), Marquinhos 7, Kimpembe 7, Kurzawa 7; Gueye 5 (Herrera 45), Paredes 7, Verratti 8 (Draxler 73); Kean 7 (Danilo 85), Icardi 6, Mbappe 9. Letellier, Michut, Rafinha, Pereira, Rico, Sarabia, Diallo, Bakker. Gueye.
Bjorn Kuipers (Holland).