By David Awopetu
Kylian Mbappe ripped Barcelona apart on Tuesday by scoring a stunning hat-trick in a 4-1 rout to put Paris Saint-Germain on the brink of the Champions League quarter-finals.
Mbappe underlined his status as the rising superstar of world football with a ruthless display of finishing at Camp Nou that will go down as one of this competition’s most devastating individual performances.
The 22-year-old eclipsed Barca’s Lionel Messi, whose opening goal from the penalty spot had been reduced to nothing more than a footnote by the final whistle.
On-loan Everton striker Moise Kean continued his resurgence by heading in unchallenged at the far post to put the Ligue 1 champions in control of the tie.
With Barca looking to pull a goal back, they were caught on the counter-attack and Mbappe curled in the goal of the night with his third.
It was the team’s first meeting since Barcelona erased a 4-0 deficit by winning the second leg 6-1 at the same stage of the competition four years ago. But Ronald Koeman’s team was thoroughly outplayed at home, even with PSG missing Brazil star Neymar, Argentine Di Maria and now has to attempt a comeback in Paris instead.
The electric Mbappé become the first player to score an away hat trick at the Camp Nou in the Champions League since Andriy Shevchenko for Dynamo Kyiv in a 4-0 win in 1997.
His dominance was epitomized by the image of Barcelona captain Gerard Pique making his return from a long-term injury layoff pulling at Mbappé’s shirt in an unsuccessful attempt at slowing down the France star as he rushed forward in attack.
With this performance, the French forward now looks ready to claim Messi’s crown as the king of world football.
Mbappe’s French compatriot and Barca star Antoine Griezmann said: “Kylian Mbappe had a great night.
“PSG has a great star for the future, who will be at the level of Leo Messi or Cristian Ronaldo.”
His first goal of the night was a close-range blast after dancing round Clement Lenglet, his second a shot on the rebound and his third a sublime curling effort.
But his all-round display was Messi-esque in the way he tormented Barca – with pundit Owen Hargreaves likening the World Cup winner to the Brazilian Ronaldo.
The second leg takes place on 20 March in Paris, by which time PSG hope to have Neymar back from a thigh injury to face his former side.
