Kylian Mbappe’s Hat-Trick in Barcelona Inspires PSG To Victory
Kylian Mbappe’s hat-trick inspired Paris Saint-Germain to a resounding 4-1 victory against Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain.
PSG started brightly, with Mbappe’s pace causing the Barcelona defence problems right from the start. The French forward latched onto Marco Verratti’s pass over the top, but goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen was quickly off his line to clear the danger.
The deadlock was broken in the 27th minute when Lionel Messi’s direct pass found Frankie De Jong in the penalty area, and the midfielder had his heels clipped by defender Layvin Kurzawa. The referee pointed to the spot and Messi stepped up.
The contest was end-to-end as Ter Stegen denied Kurzawa, while Griezmann shot wide after a Barcelona counter-attack. Ousmane Dembele had a brilliant chance to make it two moments later, but effort was straight at Navas. That miss proved to be costly as Mbappe struck the equaliser moments later.
Marco Verratti’s flick picked out Mbappe in the penalty area and he showed quick feet to shift the ball past Clement Lenglet, before powering the ball into the roof of the net for an important away goal in the tie.
Ter Stegen also had to be alert to keep out Moise Kean’s powerful strike moments later, before Mauro Icardi powered a header wide in the closing stages of a brilliant first half.
After the break, PSG took over and Mbappe added his second of the night as Alessandro Florenzi’s cut-back was deflected into the path of Mbappe, who guided the ball into the back of the net.
PSG were dominating the hosts and made the tie more difficult for Barcelona when Kean ran through unmarked to head Paredes’ free-kick into the net to make it 3-1 to PSG.
Barca had absolutely no answer to PSG’s dominance and Mbappe produced a moment of brilliance to put the scoreline beyond doubt.
After a swift counter-attack, Mbappe rounded off a perfect night for Mauricio Pochettino’s men with a curled finish to leave Barcelona stunned.
The result leaves Barcelona requiring another considerable comeback heading into the second leg at the Parc des Princes on March 10, four years on from the memorable last-16 clash in which the La Liga outfit recovered from a 4-0 first-leg loss in France by winning the second 6-1 at the Nou Camp.
“Surely the result reflects how superior they have been. In the second half, we had problems defensively. They proved physically to be very superior to us,” Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman said after the match.
“We have to admit that they have been superior. They have shown that they have a more complete team than us. We have to accept it, improve things.”
“We know that this can happen because we play against a great team, a physical team, with experience for many things, that is ahead of us,” he added.
FULL-TIME: FC Barcelona 1️⃣-4️⃣ Paris Saint-Germain
