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Paris, Jan. 17 (AP): After teammate Lionel Messi missed a penalty, Kylian Mbappe saved his team again by scoring a brilliant solo goal deep into stoppage time as Paris Saint-Germain beat Real Madrid 1-0 in their Champions League last-16 match on Tuesday.
Mbappe has rescued PSG many times with late goals in the French league this season — as recently as last Friday — and he did so again on the biggest stage.
After taking a back-heeled pass from substitute Neymar in the fourth and final minute of stoppage time of the first leg, Mbappe cut inside two players down the left and shot the ball between the legs of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
Courtois had played the starring role, denying Mbappe early in each half and then stopping record seven-time Golden Ball winner Messi’s penalty in the 61st minute. It was awarded after Mbappe was fouled by right back Dani Carvajal.
Courtois guessed correctly and dived to his left for a fine stop.
Messi scored 26 goals and delivered 14 assists in 45 games against Madrid during his glory era with Barcelona, but did not find the net in several games before joining PSG last summer.
PSG threw on Neymar for the last 20 minutes as the Brazil standout made his return from a sprained ankle, while Madrid’s star forward Karim Benzema shook off a hamstring injury and faced ex-club rival Messi and France teammate Mbappe.
Mbappe is out of contract at the end of the season and remains heavily linked with a move to Madrid, which had an offer of 180 million euros ($204 million) rejected by PSG last summer.
Now the Spanish giant might get arguably the world’s most dangerous striker for free, although Mbappe pushed back on talk of a move.
The subplots were in place but the first half did not live up to the hype, save for a few flashes of skill from Mbappe.
The second started better as Courtois produced a superb one-handed save low to his right to deny Mbappe, who was set up by right back Achraf Hakimi’s astute quick pass.
PSG has never won the competition while record 13-time champion Madrid hasn’t reached the final since completing a straight hat trick of European Cups in 2018.
Manchester City was so good in the Champions League on Tuesday that even the fans of its opponents couldn’t help but applaud.
When Phil Foden side-footed home the third of City’s four first-half goals in a 5-0 win over Sporting in the last 16, it wasn’t just the vocal away fans showing their appreciation inside the Estádio José Alvalade.
Some of the home supporters were also seen clapping in recognition of one of the most dominant performances ever seen at this stage of Europe’s top club competition.
Helping inflict the humiliation were four players who once played for Sporting’s fierce Lisbon rival, Benfica. One of them was Bernardo Silva, who scored two of the goals — his first an outrageous half-volley that flew in off the underside of the crossbar.
Riyad Mahrez began the demolition in the seventh minute with a close-range volley that was only given after a long video review.
Silva then scored in the 17th and 44th minutes — either side of Foden’s well-worked team goal in the 32nd — as City went into half time leading 4-0.
Raheem Sterling curled in a sublime fifth in the 58th and Pep Guardiola’s team can start planning for the quarterfinals, even with the second leg still to come in three weeks.
Not that City manager Pep Guardiola, as close to a perfectionist as there is in world soccer, was getting too carried away.