Kylian Mbappe’s UCL showing reminds PSG he’s irreplaceable

PARIS — They’ve spent millions over the past two seasons, seen superstars come and go, but one constant at Paris Saint-Germain remains the same, at least for now: If Kylian Mbappé finds his rhythm, he can transform. the results of a match in an instant.

As bad as PSG were at Newcastle United in their last Champions League outing, losing 4-1, they reminded their credentials on Wednesday by dismantling AC Milan 3-0 in Group F with their young French stars Mbappe , Ousmane. Dembélé, Randal Kolo Muani and especially Warren Zaire-Emery at the forefront of this convincing victory.

And once again, it was this man, Mbappé, who was the protagonist and the main irritant of AC Milan. His first-half performance was worrying enough for the Serie A side: before the players even sat down in the locker room at halftime, they already had substitute Davide Calabria warming up. If plan A fails to stop Mbappe, then try something else – anything, urgently.

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PSG came into this match with three points from their first two matches, AC Milan with two goalless draws – despite having the third most shots in the Champions League from their first two matches . With a well-balanced group with Newcastle and Borussia Dortmund also in action on Wednesday night at St James’ Park, this was a game where a win either way could tip the balance of this group.

But it was one of those nights at the Parc des Princes where you felt it was going to take something monumental from AC Milan to calm down this noisy crowd.

Amid the smoke from the cacophony of pre-match fireworks, two tifos hung behind the two goals. On Auteuil’s side was one of the late French actors Jean-Paul Belmondo, a big PSG fan. He was immortalized in the role of his secret agent Josselin Beaumont from the film “The Professional”, while at the other end of the stadium was the devil of AC Milan. The slogan read: “I have them in my sights like Belmondo.” (I have them in my sights like Belmondo).

And it was PSG’s chief scorer, Mbappe, who fired the first shot on target, shooting directly at Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan after 21 minutes. He then had another shot in the 29th minute as he cut inside his left wing to fire a shot across the goal. But it was the third effort three minutes later where he sharpened his radar and made it count in the 32nd minute, turning the match upside down in favor of PSG.

It was Zaire-Emery who was the catalyst for this decision. His ability to play as a number 6, number 8 and number 10 means he is equally happy to dictate transitions from the back, throw a dart in midfield or act as a pivot in attack. The preparation for Mbappe’s first match combined all of this: a little dart in midfield and the discovery of Mbappe on the left. He targeted Milan defender Fikayo Tomori, spun him around, then fired a shot through the defender and into Maignan’s near corner. It was clinical, emphatic and merciless.

At this point, the only individual at the Parc des Princes to actually lay a glove on Mbappe was a first-half pitch invader who escaped security to get a hug from the superstar.

Calabria was less reckless than the first half’s efforts and was happy for Mbappé to turn around before attempting to stop him, but it was his intervention that led to PSG’s second goal. By this stage, PSG had already seen a brilliant goal disallowed for a foul by Manuel Ugarte on Milan midfielder Yunus Musah in the build-up as Dembele’s brilliant shimmy and strike on the right was ruled out. But the Parisians It only took five more minutes for the pressure to count. A quick corner found Dembele unmarked and his shot on goal was parried into the path of Muani, who scored in the 53rd minute.

Mbappe could have scored a second goal in the 81st minute as a radical move found him unmarked, but his shot on goal was deflected onto the post by Maignan. PSG secured a deserved third in the 89th minute as Zaire-Emery found space on the right and launched Kang-In Lee who finished clinically past Maignan.

AC Milan had its moments. Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leão formed a nice pincer movement on the PSG defense at times in the first half, with Pulisic’s runs down the right causing Theo Hernández some difficulty, while Leao put in a decent effort on the left. ‘gap. In the second half, it was Pulisic who curled a well-struck shot straight at Gianluigi Donnarumma – playing his first match against his former team – while Pulisic had space to put Olivier Giroud through in the 49th minute, only for the pass to being too touched and Giroud makes an effort into the side netting.

This opportunity was enough for the end of the Auteuil stadium to set off its final pyrotechnic show, covering this end of the stadium in a haze of red and blue smoke. And despite a few hairy moments from Donnarumma in goal, it proved impenetrable for AC Milan.

PSG will have to confirm this in the second leg at San Siro in a fortnight’s time where Donnarumma will receive a hostile reception and Pulisic will be back in front of the crowd he has already won over with his superb start in Serie A. Musah did well against PSG , certainly one of AC Milan’s best players, as he played 77 minutes before being substituted – but it was a dominant performance from PSG.

For the PSG supporters who sang a few hours before kick-off, throughout the match and probably well into the night, we have the feeling that they want this group at home. Mbappe’s contract expires at the end of the season and despite having his good friend Dembele in the team and their exceptional young midfielder Zaire-Emery running things with scary potential at just 17 years old, there’s a sense of finiteness here – at least. of this iteration of PSG.

Players like Neymar and Leo Messi have failed to bring the Champions League to the City of Lights, and now, in what could be Mbappe’s swan song season here, there is desperation for this one to happen. this counts. It was yet another reminder of what PSG have in Mbappe, but also what they could lose at the end of the season and the unrealizable void he would leave behind.