KYLIAN MBAPPE’S breathtaking display against Barcelona has stunned the footballing world after he scored a hat-trick at the Nou Camp.
The 22-year-old ran riot in Catalonia on Tuesday night as Paris Saint-Germain beat the Blaugrana 4-1 in the Champions League Round of 16 first leg.
Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe stole the show against Barcelona on Tuesday nightCredit: Icon Sport – Getty
He became the first visiting player since Andriy Shevchenko in 1997 to score three times at Barcelona.
His performance earned him a rare nine out of ten in French newspaper L’Equipe in what was Mbappe’s first time competing against the LaLiga outfit.
And his incredible outing left players and pundits taken aback, with his team-mate Neymar tweeting: “Mbappe PLAYING A LOT ….. my boy’s HAT-TRICK.”
Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford posted on social media: “What a performance @KMbappe.”
His England international team-mate Jadon Sancho simply stated: “Big player! @KMbappe.”
BT Sport pundit Gary Lineker declared: “A hat-trick from @KMbappe. We may be witnessing the changing of the guard.”
And it was a statement shared by his colleague Rio Ferdinand, who insisted the World Cup winner will ‘take the throne’ from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
He said: “Mbappe is on his own – out of young players he’s on his own. People forget he’s 22 years old.
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World Cup winner Mbappe was given a nine out of ten by L’Equipe
“Given he’s won the World Cup, what he’s done in the French league and in the Champions League, he’s been immense.
“I just feel that he’s the guy now that’s going to take the throne, take the crown, he’s standing alone at the moment. It’s for everybody to catch up to him now.
“This guy is going to take over the throne from Messi and Ronaldo when they’re done with it.”
Joe Cole was also in agreement with the Red Devils legend, as he insisted Mbappe is currently the best player in the world.
He stated: “[Mbappe] is the best player in the world, at the moment. The influence he has on his team, the way he can just run away from players.
“His link-up play, his work-rate off the ball… he is the alpha dog in football at the moment.”
And Arsene Wenger has urged PSG to focus on keeping Mbappe at the club instead of making a move to sign Messi.
He told beIN SPORTS: “Mbappe is free in 2022. If he does not extend in 2021 PSG has to sell Mbappe or he will be completely free in 2022.
Mbappe has more goal involvements than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo at 22 in the Champions League
“And they have to extend Neymar and Mbappe together. And it looks like that will be financially very very expensive. And the question PSG has to answer, can they convince the two?
“And do they have the money to do it? Because they need to sign the two together.
“Messi demands a huge investment and I would say PSG today is more focussed on keeping their two best players and investing all the money they have into their two best players.
“Mbappe is 22 maybe the future best player in the world so when you have the next two best players in the world, keep them.”
PSG star Kylian Mbappe collects the match ball after amazing hat-trick at Barcelona
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
