UCL results: Mbappe scores hat-trick as PSG beat Barcelona at Camp Nou

February 16, 2021 11:16 pm

Kylian Mbappe led Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) to a 4-1 win over Barcelona at the Camp Nou in their UEFA Champions League (UCL) round of 16 first leg encounter on Tuesday night.

The Paris-born mercurial forward scored a hattrick to grab the headlines and become the centre of attraction instead of Lionel Messi, six-time Balon D’Or winner, who made do with a penalty goal as PSG tore Barcelona’s shambolic defence to shreds.

In the entertaining encounter that missed injured Neymar Jr’s reunion with his former Barcelona compatriots, the Spanish side drew first blood through Messi opening goal from the penalty spot on 28 minutes after Frankie de Jong was brought down in the box by Layvin Kurzawa.

The Argentine maestro dispatched the kick for his 20th goal of the season and a 1-0 Barca lead.

The Parisian visitors scored the vital away goal to equalize four minutes later through Mbappe, their pacy wonderkid and goal machine.

The 22-year-old took Marco Veratti’s pass and breezed past Clement Lenglet before hitting an unstoppable shot beyond Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Barcelona goalkeeper, to restore parity.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men should have taken a halftime lead but Stegen brilliantly denied Kurzawa and Moise Kean, while Mauro Icardi headed wide from a corner kick delivery.

PSG took a deserved lead on 65 minutes with Mbappe scoring his second of the night, coolly dispatching a rebound from 10 yards after Stegen parried Alessandro Florenzi’s cross into his path.

Barcelona were further torn apart when Moise Kean, the young striker on-loan from Everton, headed in Leandro Paredes’ delivery at the back post for 3-1.

Fittingly, Mbappe completed the Spanish disgrace on 86 minutes with his hat-trick on the counter-attack, coolly finishing off a move started by Julian Draxler for a 4-1 first leg victory to PSG.

The French Ligue 1 champions and last season UCL finalists will host the second leg on March 20, in Paris.

Salah and Mane give Liverpool rare win

In the other encounter of the night, Liverpool ended a three-match losing streak with a 2-0 win at RB Leipzig in Germany, thanks to second-half goals from Mohamed Salah and Saido Mane.

RESULTS