Astonishingly enough, it has happened to Paris Saint-Germain again.
They were on the wrong end of another magical comeback, a surefire European classic, this time coming against Real Madrid.
On a dismal night for the Parisiens in Spain, they managed to surrender a 2-0 lead in the final 45, as Karim Benzema sparked an inspired comeback. The French side featured lacklustre performances by almost everyone involved, barring the young revelation that is Kylian Mbappe.
The Frenchman, just like the first leg, was at his rampant best and scored the first goal of the 2nd leg, one which seemed to seal the tie for PSG.
He put the ball in the back of the net on two other occasions as well but was ultimately adjudged offside. The second one of these offside efforts was absolute wizardry, and justifiably, fans simply have not stopped talking about it.
When Kylian Mbappe is discussed, fans often draw parallels with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry etc, but on the evening, the young Frenchman displayed that he has a bit of vintage R9 in him.
Borrowing a trick right from Il Fenomeno’s playbook, Mbappe executed a sublime dummy, one which left Courtois clueless.
The Frenchman latched onto a through ball by Neymar and showed excellent awareness as he kept track of an onrushing Courtois. And instead of striking the ball the first time, he pulled off a pair of lightning-fast stepovers, which left the keeper in no man’s land before slotting the ball home.
An ingenious bit of play, which also goes on to show that the 23-year-old is simply operating on a different level. Unfortunately, he was denied a potential goal of the tournament contender as the flag went up and his efforts went in vain.
Nevertheless, the ‘streets’ don’t forget, and soon enough, the clip of him obliterating Courtois soon went viral. Fans were in awe of what they witnessed, and Mbappe’s status as one of the worlds best was cemented even further.
This is absolutely disgusting omdsss pic.twitter.com/jSGA0OisRL
— Max. ✍🏼 (@AFCMax9) March 9, 2022
Outrageous dummy from Mbappé, shades of Pele. Shame about the offside…
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) March 9, 2022
That goal should count for that ridiculous dummy Mbappe just gave the goalkeeper. Had that man doing a strip club split without even touching the ball.
— Zito (@_Zeets) March 9, 2022
It’s offside but the dummy Mbappe sold Courtois just then broke the geneva convention.
— The Tactical Times (@Tactical_Times) March 9, 2022
R9 is smiling rn after that dummy from Mbappe
— Steve Arnott (@LaPiochey) March 9, 2022
