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Of course, he also took the ball with him in the end.

His ball, which he had carried past Marc-André ter Stegen three times on that memorable evening before.

An unusual three-pack for Kylian Mbappé himself, who had previously only scored one goal in the knockout phase for Paris Saint-Germain.

After the 4: 1 (1: 1) in the first knockout round of the Champions League, he also aroused unknown feelings in the opponent.

FC Barcelona had only seen a player from the other team score three goals twice in its long history in the Champions League.

And both cases were 24 years ago.

Fausto Asprilla scored all three goals in a 3-2 draw for Newcastle United in 1997.

In the same year, 21-year-old Andrej Shevchenko made his international breakthrough in a 4-0 away win with his hat-trick in the first half.

So now Mbappé, also just beginning his career at the age of 22.

The French soccer star scored in the 32nd, 65th and 85th minutes.

Moise Kean had made it 3-1 for PSG (70th).

The ketchup bottle effect: Kylian Mbappé was unstoppable at Camp Nou

Source: REUTERS

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Barça, who took the lead through a penalty from the otherwise weak Lionel Messi (27th), are only able to repeat the miracle from the last duel for the second leg on March 10th.

In February 2017, Barcelona lost 4-0 in the first leg of the round of 16, but prevailed 6-1 in the second leg in their own stadium.

Mbappé praises Tuchel

However, it takes some imagination to be able to imagine a similar scenario after the one-sided duel on Tuesday.

PSG, who competed without the injured Neymar and Ángel Di María, were clearly superior to the much too passive Catalans and gave coach Mauricio Pochettino a more than successful debut in his first game in the premier class.

After his hat-trick gala, Mbappé surprisingly remembered ex-trainer Thomas Tuchel and named him as the reason for the success.

“It's a question of continuity,” said the world champion: “The coach (Pochettino, d. Ed.) Has done a great job since he joined.

But he continued the work of Tuchel, who started an extraordinary job with the final, ”said Mbappé.

Looking back full of thanks: the relationship between Kylian Mbappé and ex-trainer Thomas Tuchel was not always harmonious

Source: AFP / FRANCK FIFE

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Under Tuchel, who was on leave in December 2020 and now wants to return Chelsea to the premier class, Paris made it to the final in the last Champions League season and lost there to Bayern.

After the clear away win in Barcelona, ​​at least the chances of returning to the quarter-finals are good.

"We played a great game and are very satisfied," said Mbappé and, at the moment of success, turned to his critics again.

“You don't have to take this criticism personally, I've never done that either.

Every player in the history of football has been criticized, including Diego Maradona.

So will Kylian Mbappé. ”Three goals and self-reflection in the third person - just like great players do.