KYLIAN MBAPPE showed his class with a stunning hat-trick against Barcelona on Tuesday night.
In Paris Saint-Germain’s trip to Spain for the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, the onus was on the young striker.
Without the injured Neymar, Les Parisiens were up against it against Ronald Koeman’s side.
Mbappe more than delivered with three classy goals that saw him become the first visiting player to score a hat-trick at the Nou Camp in 24 years.
The last man to do it was Andriy Shevchenko for Dynamo Kiev in 1997.
PSG were trailing after a contentious penalty scored by Lionel Messi put Barcelona one up after 27 minutes.
But PSG fought back with Mbappe notching a crucial away goal within five minutes.
A lofted ball to the left flank found Layvin Kurzawa, who had given away the spot-kick for tangling with Frenkie de Jong.
The Frenchman cut his cross towards Marco Verratti and a cute flick by the midfielder reached Mbappe.
Taking the ball with his face to goal, he controlled it around Clement Lenglet and fired home his effort at Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s near-post.
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Kylian Mbappe scored a hat-trick as PSG dominated BarcelonaCredit: Getty Images – Getty
The Frenchman showed his class in the absence of NeymarCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Mbappe then put PSG ahead after 65 minutes, sweeping home past diving defenders after an Alessandro Florenzi cross had deflected into his path.
Following a Moise Kean header, it was 4-1 when the former Monaco youngster finished off a suckerpunch counter-attack.
Ander Herrera rolled in Mbappe as he raced down the left, and he opened his body up to strike first-time and hit the top corner.
Manchester United star Marcus Rashford showed his appreciation for the hat-trick, and tweeted: “What a performance Kylian Mbappe.”
He had waited until the final matchday of the group stage to open his Champions League account for the season.
But the 22-year-old now has 21 goals to his name in all competitions, and five in his last four.
Indeed, the goals were just the latest world-class finishes from the attacker following the immense pace he showed to score past Marseille earlier this month.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
