Paris (AFP)
Author of a hat-trick to defeat Barcelona (4-1) on Tuesday, Kylian Mbappé invited himself to the table of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, in front of the eyes of a stunned Europe, which awaits the next episode of the saga of the prodigy of Paris SG: negotiations on its future.
No one has scored three times against Messi at Camp Nou.
In the garden of the Argentine "Pulga", the young 22-year-old striker rewrote history, to propel his team to the gates of the quarter-finals of the Champions League, on condition that they qualify for the round of 16 return on March 10 to Paris.
His personal trajectory leaves no room for the memory of the humiliating "remountada" suffered by his club in 2017 against Barça (6-1): his XXL performance allowed PSG to evacuate the trauma.
A precocious talent, revealed at 17 on the European scene with Monaco, Mbappé reached a new level on Tuesday in his progression.
"Great players build their history and their careers with matches like this," said coach Mauricio Pochettino.
After the meeting, there was only "Kyky" to minimize the impact of his performance: "It's magnificent, but we did not win anything", he explained to the microphone of the broadcaster RMC Sport.
His calm tone contrasts with the laudatory headlines of the press Wednesday morning, celebrating "his greatest European performance in the Parisian jersey", for L'Equipe.
- "Transfer of powers" -
"Mbappé destroys Barça", headlines Marca, the best-selling newspaper in Spain, when its competitor As evokes "hurricane Mbappé".
In the absence of Neymar, injured, "the messiah is Mbappé", writes Le Parisien, which evokes "an air of transfer of powers" between the Argentine and the French.
The earthquake caused at Camp Nou shook the foundations of world football: behind Messi (33) and Cristiano Ronaldo (36), eleven Golden Balls between them, a new candidate for their succession has redefined the landscape.
"I believe that Paris SG has a future very big star, who will be at the level of Leo (Messi) or Cristiano (Ronaldo), so we must take advantage of it every day," admitted his opponent Antoine Griezmann, at the microphone by RMC Sport.
"He's the guy who's going to take the throne from them when they're done," said former England international Rio Ferdinand, consultant for British channel BT Sport.
"If it is not a passing of the baton, we are not far from it. (...) Mbappé punched the table of the succession to Messi and Ronaldo, Neymar is warned", writes La Gazzetta dello Sport.
For TuttoSport, even Messi "stayed to watch the new star".
The image of the Argentine defeated in front of the prowess of the French is not new: it recalls the round of 16 of the 2018 World Cup won by the Blues against the Albiceleste (4-3).
Then aged 19 years and six months, Mbappé had become the youngest player to score a brace in a World Cup, ahead of Pelé in 1958.
- "Reflection" -
World champion in the wake, the native of Bondy has however seen his stellar trajectory collide with the glass ceiling of the C1 over the past three years, like his too soft shot in the final lost to Bayern in August. last in Lisbon (1-0).
"I have not always been successful, I may still miss games, but never in life will I hide, even if we make mistakes in life," said "Kyky".
Europe is waiting for its next coup.
The player is currently negotiating with PSG to extend his contract expiring in 2022.
If Neymar calls him with his foot to stay in the capital, the Frenchman is giving himself time to "think".
"It's that it's a reflection on the long term, not on a game or two," he dodged Tuesday.
Candidate to welcome him next summer, Real Madrid must have appreciated his performance on the ground of the hated rival.
For now, Kylian Mbappé is keeping his eyes on the Champions League, which Messi had already won at his age, but not Ronaldo, who won his first at 23.
And her one of the largest napkin rings seem already reserved.
pi-pve-cpb-alu-ah / jed / smr
© 2021 AFP