Mbappe treble stuns Barca, Liverpool thrash RB Leipzig

BARCELONA: Kylian Mbappe ripped Barcelona apart on Tuesday by scoring a stunning hat-trick in a 4-1 rout to put Paris Saint-Germain on the brink of the Champions League quarter-finals.

Mbappe underlined his status as the rising superstar of world football with a ruthless display of finishing at Camp Nou that will go down as one this competition’s most devastating individual performances.

The 22-year-old eclipsed Barca’s Lionel Messi, whose opening goal from the penalty spot had been reduced to nothing more than a footnote by the final whistle.

Moise Kean also headed in midway through the second half, carelessly left unmarked from a free-kick as PSG pulled away to win this first leg, and perhaps the tie.

Barcelona will no doubt draw upon the spirit of their astonishing ‘Remontada’ in 2017, when they won the second leg 6-1 to overturn a 4-0 deficit from the opening game in Paris.

It will certainly serve as a warning for PSG but without fans, and with Mbappe, any hopes of a repeat for Ronald Koeman’s side from look faint at best.

Mbappe ran them ragged all night long.

The warning signs for the hosts came early as Mbappe sped in behind their central defence after 52 seconds, only for Marc-Andre ter Stegen to clear just in time.

For half an hour, the chances just kept coming, at both ends. Antoine Griezmann scuttled through but was denied by Keylor Navas at the near post and then Pedri made up for a miscontrol by dashing back to prevent Mauro Icardi’s finish from trickling in.

Messi’s pass led to Barca’s opener, a clipped ball over the top attracting the gaze of Layvin Kurzawa as he tracked back and inadvertently tripped Frenkie de Jong in front of him. Messi slammed the penalty into the top corner.

PSG were briefly shell-shocked and for the next five minutes, Koeman’s men chased a second, with Messi freeing Ousmane Dembele in the area but he failed to connect.