Kylian Mbappé breaks part of net with powerful goal as he’s hailed ‘No. 1 player in the world’
By Ben Morse, CNN
(CNN) — Kylian Mbappé had a night to remember on Tuesday, scoring two goals and being touted as the world’s best player, as he helped Paris Saint-Germain advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
The 25-year-old’s double led the French side to a 2-1 victory over Real Sociedad in San Sebastián, Spain, giving it a 4-1 victory on aggregate over the two legs of their round-of-16 clash.
The first goal of the night was a microcosm of Mbappé’s skillset – exploding down the left side of the pitch before bamboozling his defender with some quick feet before lashing it across goal into the bottom corner in the 15th minute.
Such was the power of his goal that the strike actually broke the net, leaving a hole behind between post and net. The game had to be stopped while repairs took place.
Mbappé doubled PSG’s lead on the night and effectively finished off the tie 11 minutes after halftime with another trademark goal.
The French superstar sprung free down the left with a ball over the top before wrong-footing Alejandro Remiro in goal.
Although Mikel Merino scored late on to give Real Sociedad some consolation, the evening was all about Mbappé and his excellent outing.
After PSG had confirmed its ticket to the last eight of the Champions League, Mbappé expressed his relief at advancing to the next stage.
“We’re really happy. That was the objective, we wanted to qualify, but we also wanted to win. We had a gameplan that was clear, and we managed to score early. We didn’t come under too much pressure, just a little at the end,” he said after the match.
“[Scoring goals] is what I do. It’s what I like to do, what I can do. My job is to help the team score goals, to help offensively, defensively, and today, I did a nice job.”
Mbappé himself was the subject of praise after his match-winning performance, with his manager Luis Enrique lauding him as the “No. 1 player in the world.”
“He’ll score 50 goals and get 25 assists with whatever coach in whichever team. Unfortunately, in the immediate future, he won’t be here, and we have to start trying out other teammates,” Enrique told France’s Canal+.
Mbappé – who is reportedly leaving the club to join Real Madrid at the end of the season, according to multiple reports citing unnamed sources in February – now sits atop the scoring charts in the Champions League with six goals, tied with Harry Kane who also scored two goals on Tuesday night as Bayern Munich advanced to the quarterfinals.
Erling Haaland sits a goal behind on five, and when the choice of the three of them to build a team around was put to former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand, his answer was emphatic.
“Mbappé, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. They’re all great. There’s no bad or wrong answer here really, but … Mbappé, man,” he said on TNT Sports.
“I’d pay every day to watch him train let alone play in a match because he creates things on his own. I can give him the ball at left-back and he might score. I can give him the ball anywhere on the pitch and he could create something. The other two not so much. They are great, don’t get me wrong.
“But Mbappé’s just got that something different that would make me sit up at night and go: ‘Thank you, God.’”
Ferdinand’s former teammate Owen Hargreaves agreed and touted Mbappé alongside the greats of the game, naming legendary forwards such as Thierry Henry and Ronaldo Nazario as comparisons.
Hargreaves also predicted that Mbappé, who has already won the World Cup with France and is PSG’s all-time leading goalscorer, will win a Ballon d’Or in his career.
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