Kylian Mbappé proudly declared “I’ve always wanted to give the best of myself with PSG” after his stunning UEFA Champions League hat-trick against Barcelona that left approving French compattriot Antoine Griezmann predicting his France teammate will “be at the level of Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo” in the future.
Mbappé is now only the third player to score a UEFA Champions League treble against Barca in as he played the central role in PSG’s 4-1 first-leg win in the Last 16 tie in Spain to give the French champions a very solid platform ahead of next month’s return in Paris.
“We wanted to come here and win. That’s what did in style,” said the 22-year-old, who had previously netted just one knockout stage goal in the competition for PSG.
“It’s fabulous, but we’ve won nothing yet. I’ve always wanted to give the best of myself with PSG, I hold this shirt close to my heart.
“I’ve not always been lucky, perhaps I’ll still have poor games, but I’ll never hide, even if you make mistakes in life. My hard work has paid off. I’ve always said I’m happy here, and after this kind of game, I’m even more so.”
Although Barça had surged into the lead through a Lionel Messi penalty, Mbappé took centre stage with his hattrick that left the host’s France international forward Antoine Griezmann disappointed yet in full admiration for his compatriot’s display.
“Kylian had a great night, simple as that,” he told RMC. “I’m happy for him. He’s been criticised a lot, but when someone has been around a while, as soon as they have a dip in form, they get criticised, it’s easy to do that.
“But I think Paris Saint-Germain have a really big star of the future, one who’s going to be at the level of Leo or Cristiano so you have to enjoy him every single day. You can only congratulate him, because he played a really superb game.”
Mbappé had gone nearly a full year without scoring in the UEFA Champions League before his brace in the final group stage game against Basaksehir. Yet despite the injury-enforced absences of Neymar and Angel Di Maria at the Camp Nou, the former Monaco man had been feeling confident even before kick-off.
“Your confidence always has to be total. He was calm before the game,” said PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino, who had previously been both playe and coach for Barça’s neighbours, Espanyol.
“He asked me how many times I’d won at the Camp Nou. I told him ‘once’. He replied that I was going to win a second time. And at the end of the game, he said to me, ‘There you go, there’s a second win.'”