PSG, already guaranteed of a place in the Champions League knockout stage having emerged in second place in their Group, still named a strong starting Xl to exact sweet, convincing vengeance on their earlier tormentors Club Brugge to trounce the Belgians 4-1.
The Parisians have finally wrested back their bragging rights, managing even a slap in the face for cocky Brugge defender Jack Hendry who had in their first encounter bragged about how he had made the likes of Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe look silly on the pitch, denouncing their invincibility and skills as strikers to be feared. Mbappe had in the 37th minute – in the run-up to the silken goal by Messi – slipped a cheeky nutmeg past the Scottish defender on the touchline before racing forward and setting up Lionel Messi’s goal.
Mbappe himself had begun by netting a brilliant brace inside the opening seven minutes at the Parc des Princes, making him the youngest player to reach 30 Champions League goals.
The Ligue 1 side will understandably and undoubtedly be anxious to keep Mbappe, who has only a few months left on his contract and has long been linked with Real Madrid.
“I don’t know. Today I have to take the time. It is not easy. Either way, I’ll be playing for a big club,” Mbappe recently told Amazon Prime when asked about his future.
“At first I was disappointed [not to leave]. But well, I am not in the third division, I am in a club that wants to win the Champions League.
“I am Parisian, I have my family, I feel good, I have always said it. I just wanted to discover something else.”