KYLIAN MBAPPE paid respect to Lionel Messi after knocking his Barcelona team out the Champions League.
The Paris Saint-Germain superstar scored four of his side’s five goals in the 5-2 aggregate win over Barca in the last-16.
Kylian Mbappe posted this picture of him and Lionel MessiCredit: Reuters
And he has been widely touted as the ‘next Messi’ as the World Cup winner has quickly become one of the hottest properties in world football.
But despite his rapid rise to superstardom Mbappe showed he has remained humble with his social media post after Wednesday’s 1-1 second-leg draw in Paris.
Mbappe uploaded a picture of the two of them on the field together with the Frenchman smiling at a despondent looking Messi.
And he simply captioned the post with two respectful looking emojis – praying hands and hands to the heavens.
It received more than 651,000 likes and 50,000 comments.
Despite the apparent show of reverence, Mbappe has previously labelled Messi’s bitter rival Cristiano Ronaldo the GOAT.
After France played Ronaldo’s Portugal Mbappe shared a similar on-field post and captioned it with the GOAT emoji and the words: “IDOL”.
With Ronaldo and Messi in their mid-30s, their reign as the two greatest players on the planet is coming to an end.
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Mbappe’s post came after his PSG team knocked Messi’s Barca out the Champions LeagueCredit: Getty Images – Getty
And Mbappe and Borussia Dortmund ace Erling Haaland are being lined up as their successors.
Real Madrid have reportedly made Mbappe their No 1 target.
And incoming Barca president Joan Laporta revealed he would be pursuing Haaland and trying to lure him to the Nou Camp.
When asked by ESPN about Haaland, he said: “If we have to improve the team, I already have the cards ready for the players.
“I have the cards to face all situations. Barça supporters can be sure that their club will soon be prosperous again.”
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PSG knock Barcelona and Lionel Messi out of the Champions League
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
