Paris, Feb. 16 (BNA): After team-mate Lionel Messi missed a penalty kick, Kylian Mbappe saved his team once again by scoring a superb individual goal in stoppage time, as Paris Saint-Germain beat Real Madrid 1-0 in the last Champions League. 16 games on Tuesday.
Mbappe has saved PSG multiple times with late goals in the Ligue 1 this season – until last Friday – and has done so again on the bigger stage, according to the Associated Press.
After receiving a back-heeled pass from substitute Neymar in the fourth and final minute of the stoppage time of the first leg, Mbappe cut inside two players from the left side and hit the ball between the legs of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
“I got freedom and then one-on-one. The striker is always the master of the penalty area when the defenders start to fall back,” Mbappe said. “I decided where I wanted to go.”
Mbappe does not expect his team to sit back and defend in the second leg as Real Madrid often did in Paris and was punished.
“You have to keep playing,” he said. “We have to do the same in the second leg. We will go there to win.”
Although it was a great finish, the surprise attack happened because Real Madrid somehow gave the ball under pressure in midfield rather than sweeping it away easily or far away.
“We lost a stupid ball, Mbappe skips two goals and manages to get the ball under me,” Courtois said. “It’s hard to play but we didn’t play well.”
He certainly did, though.
Courtois played the lead, denying Mbappe early in each half, then stopping seven-time Ballon d’Or-winning Messi’s penalty in the 61st minute. It was charged after a foul on Mbappe by right-back Dani Carvajal.
Guess Courtois correctly and drop to his left for a good stop.
“I studied Messi’s kicks a lot and tried to play with him when I was on the line,” Courtois said. “You also have to have a little luck.”
Messi scored 26 goals and provided 14 assists in 45 games against Madrid during his glory era with Barcelona, but he did not score in several matches before joining Paris Saint-Germain last summer.
Paris Saint-Germain beat Neymar in the last 20 minutes to lead the Brazilian star from an ankle injury, while Real Madrid star Karim Benzema suffered a hamstring injury and faced his former rival Messi and his French colleague Mbappe.
Mbappe’s contract expires at the end of the season and he is still heavily linked to a move to Madrid, after Paris Saint-Germain turned down an offer of 180 million euros ($204 million) last summer.
Now, the Spanish giants are arguably the world’s most dangerous striker for free, although Mbappe has held off talk of the move.
“First of all, I wanted to think about my game, many things have been said but the truth is that I am focused,” said Mbappe. “I give everything and it is shown by my actions.”
The subplots were in place but the first half didn’t live up to the hype, save for a few flashes of skill from Mbappe.
The second started better as Courtois made a superb one-handed save to his right to deny Mbappe, which right-back Achraf Hakimi made with a clever fast pass.
Paris Saint-Germain has never won the competition, while 13-times champions Real Madrid have not reached the final since completing a hat-trick in the European Cups in 2018.
“We are confident and we will be at home,” Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said of the second leg. “The crowd will be standing behind us.”
He accepted that the hard-working PSG side of Mauricio Pochettino had closed the spaces well.
He said, “We could not get out with the ball and we missed a lot of passes because of their high pressure.” “We need to be better at handling the ball.”
Ancelotti faced the team he once coached as he was set near the start of the Qatar-backed club’s takeover as the big name for Champions League glory.
Despite huge investment and a constant hunt for stars over the years, this big trophy is still a long way from the ambitious Paris Saint-Germain team – runners-up Bayern Munich in 2020.
This is the first season in 57 years that the away goals rule – a method of determining the home and away matches in European club competitions if necessary – is not used.
Somewhat unlucky, then, for Manchester City, as last season’s runners-up won 5-0 at Portuguese club Sporting.
The return matches will take place on March 9, but Madrid midfielder Casemiro was suspended after receiving a yellow card late in the first half.
Paris Saint-Germain started strongly and Angel Di Maria kicked Mbappe’s cross in the fifth minute from the left flank.
The elusive Mbappe remained behind the defense on the left, and in the 17th minute he took advantage of Messi’s pass, but Courtois cleverly saved from close range.
In the end, his persistence and belief made the difference.