Barcelona (AFP)

Author of a hat-trick at Camp Nou against FC Barcelona (4-1), Kylian Mbappé achieved a galactic performance, in the absence of Neymar, to propel Paris SG to the gates of the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Tuesday.

"Star wars" for Le Parisien, "the duel of the present and the future" according to Marca ... Tuesday morning, the Frenchman shared the "front page" of the newspapers with Lionel Messi.

There is a gulf of statistics that separates the 33-year-old six-time Golden Ball, more than 650 goals with Barça, to the young 22-year-old world champion.

But on the ground, we only saw Mbappé.

Winner of his face-to-face against the "Pulga", the former Monegasque achieved a remarkable performance.

In the absence of creators Neymar and Angel Di Maria, he took on the role of leader in which he was expected.

His match perfectly embodies that of his team, who came to the huge Camp Nou to chase the ghosts of the "remountada" of 2017.

His ghosts are the lack of realism with PSG during the final phase of C1 (only 1 goal, in 2019), or the missed opportunity in the final lost to Bayern (1-0) in August.

With a hat-trick (32nd, 65th, 85th), he hit three uppercuts that should silence critics for a while.

- In front of Pauleta -

His last goal, on the other hand, looks like the knockout shot, which should send PSG to the quarter-finals.

What a game!

To say that at the beginning of January, he was going through a difficult pass in Ligue 1, with a shortage of three games ... his longest of the season.

The negotiations for the extension of his contract, which expires in 2022, nourished an ambiguous context with the young Bondynois, who assured "reflect" on his future.

The patient posture of Mbappé, courted by Real Madrid, contrasted with the enthusiasm of Neymar, in the same contractual situation, which proclaimed his attachment to the capital club.

But in ten days, he signed the most beautiful proof of his involvement: a goal at the Stade Vélodrome to beat rival Marseille (2-0) on February 7 then a hat-trick at Camp Nou - the second player to succeed, after Andreï Shevchenko in 1997.

Considering it was an evening to rewrite history, he passed Pauleta to become PSG's third top scorer (111 goals), behind Edinson Cavani and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

From the first minute, he set the tone for the evening.

Alas, poor control prevented him from taking advantage of Marc-André Ter Stegen's failed exit, which had cleared the way for him to the empty goal.

- Decisive against -

But like the PSG came to box the ghosts of the "remorada", the former Monegasque did not stop on this missed opportunity which reminded others.

Ants in his legs, Mbappé has multiplied, present both at the creation, where the absence of Neymar allowed him to expand his area of ​​influence, and at the finish.

He launches Mauro Icardi, but the Argentine, alone against the goalkeeper, misses his duel (18th).

On a corner, he finds again the "Matador", who does not frame his head (39th).

In the meantime, he had equalized (32nd) with a superb sequence.

Upon returning from the locker room, he initiated a new clear opportunity (48th), concluded with a stop by Ter Stegen in front of Moise Kean.

A few seconds before the parade of the German doorman, he had a cold Gerard Pique who tried to hold him back by the jersey.

He succeeded 2-1, from the left, after a good job from Alessandro Florenzi.

Finally, the 3-1 combines its qualities of speed and finishing, after a cons that left Barcelona, ​​and all of Europe, dazed.

© 2021 AFP