PSG’s record-breaking scorer high on confidence as Frenchmen travel to Munich for Last-16 second-leg clash looking to overturn one-goal deficit
Kylian Mbappe. Pic/Getty Images
Kylian Mbappe heads to Munich fresh from a record-breaking weekend with Paris Saint-Germain and determined to lead the French giants past Bayern and into the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
PSG trail 0-1 from the first leg of the last-16 tie, after injury reduced Mbappe, 24, to a cameo appearance off the bench last month. Yet the France superstar did enough in his short time on the pitch then—including having a goal disallowed for a marginal offside—to make it clear that he can swing the tie for his side.
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Three straight wins for PSG
Since that game, the Ligue 1 leaders have recovered from a worrying slump in form to claim three straight domestic wins, scoring 11 goals in the process. Mbappe has netted five of them, including one in Saturday’s 4-2 win over Nantes that saw him overtake Edinson Cavani and become PSG’s all-time top scorer, five-and-a-half years after signing from Monaco in 2017.
Mbappe, the first to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final since Geoff Hurst in 1966, has a remarkable record of 201 goals from 247 games for PSG. “Every player plays to leave a mark, so that his name goes down in football history, to not be forgotten. With this record people will remember me here,” Mbappe said after being awarded a trophy by PSG in a lavish on-field presentation before an adoring crowd.
Also read: Kylian Mbappe: I play to make history and I am doing that
Mbappe has 30 goals in 30 games for his club this season and has a strong claim to be the best player in the world right now, even if Lionel Messi recently pipped him to win The Best FIFA men’s player award. Messi, with 18 goals himself for PSG this season, is mainly there to serve Mbappe in Christophe Galtier’s side, for whom the absence of Neymar due to injury in Munich may not matter. Going out of the Champions League in the first knockout round for what would be the fifth time in seven seasons would really matter for PSG and their Qatari owners. They lost to Bayern in Lisbon in their only appearance to date in the final, in 2020, but one of the defining performances of Mbappe’s time with PSG came in Munich the following year. On a snowy night in April 2021 Mbappe netted twice in a 3-2 quarter-final first-leg win over Bayern in an empty Allianz Arena. He opened the scoring as Paris went 2-0 up. Bayern pulled themselves back level only for Mbappe to score a superb winner, shaping to curl one towards the far corner only to smash his shot past goalkeeper Manuel Neuer at his near post. “My mind is already on Wednesday’s match. We are going to Munich with the clear aim of qualifying,” Mbappe said on Saturday before playing down suggestions a PSG exit would precipitate his departure from the club.
Transfer talk
“I don’t think this match will have an impact. If I linked my future to the Champions League, without wishing to show a lack of respect to the club, I would have left a long time ago. I am here and I am very happy to be here. I am not thinking about anything other than making PSG successful.”
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