Kylian Mbappe scored his first Champions League knockout goals in two years on Tuesday in the first leg round of sixteen match against Barcelona. The 22-year-old French man sent Barcelona fans crying with a hat-trick that gave Paris Saint-Germain FC a 4-1 win over FC Barcelona.
After a bout of disappointing games from PSG, Pochettino was finally granted a saving grace after 6 weeks of coaching the club.
One could not blame the PSG team members if they stepped onto the field panicking or with anxiety as a result of the absence of teammates Neymar and Angel Di Maria along with Messi being their opposition.
Neymar sustained a leg injury a week prior and was thus unable to appear for their final game in the first leg. Di Maria was also ruled out by an injury to the knee after PSG’s match against Marseille last weekend.
FC Barcelona was not without their own set of challenges as they were without midfielder Philippe Coutinho.
The first goal of the match was seen at minute 27 with a penalty by Lionel Messi. The goal set the momentum for the rest of the game, but not for Barca as they were blocked time and time again by determined PSG defenders.
Mbappe quickly picked up his first of goal of the match as well as his first goal at Camp Nou at minute 32. The ball was passed from Layvin Kurzawa to Marco Verratti in the box with a remarkable swiftness. Mbappe then swerved a number of Barca defenders before finally sending the ball in the upper left corner of the net at close range.
The scores remained at a tie until approximately 20 minutes after the second half of the match started. Mbappe gifted PSG with the lead at minute 65 with a spectacular ball that started with Alessandro Florenzi. The ball went straight past a Barcelona defender to Mbappe who again scored to the left of the net.
At the 70th minute, a mere five minutes after the last goal, it was Moise Kean’s time to shine. Leandro Paredes started the sequence with a free kick that went straight to Kean who blew the ball past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
The final goal of the match was scored when Mbappe made a return to complete his hat-trick quite close to the end of the match at minute 85. Striker Mauro Icardi played a vital role in getting the ball to Danilo Pereiro, who in turn passed it to Julian Draxler, who had been flanking Mbappe.
Draxler brought the ball all the way up to the box before he sent it to a waiting Mbappe on his left. The French man finished the game in fine style with a goal to the upper right corner of the net.
Facing the daunting task of going against a Messi-led Barcelona without not one, but two of their main men, PSG rose to the challenge and gave spectators a match that is never to be forgotten – one that could have only come from the brilliance of team work.
With fierce defenders, agile strikers and forwards, and determined blocks from the goal keeper, PSG walked out of Camp Nou heroes of a new era of football.
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