Champions League Roundup: Kylian Mbappe’s hat-trick leaves Barcelona scrambling; Liverpool bounces back with win against Leipzig

Kylian Mbappe scored a hat-trick in PSG’s Champions League last-16 tie against Barcelona on Tuesday to inspire the French champions to an emphatic 4-1 victory at Camp Nou.

The first half at the Nou Camp was an open encounter with Barcelona going ahead through a Lionel Messi penalty in the 27th minute after Frenkie de Jong had his heels clipped by Layvin Kurzawa. But Mbappe responded for the Parisians five minutes later.

Soon after the break, PSG took control of the match despite missing Neymar and Di Maria. Mbappe added his second of the night before Moise Kean, who is on loan from Everton, stretched the French side’s advantage.

Mbappe then produced a brilliant curled finish to complete his hat-trick and leave Barcelona stunned, rounding off a stunning evening for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

Barca now would look to draw inspiration from four years ago in the competition when they fought the same side from a 4-0 first-leg loss in France by winning the second 6-1 at the Nou Camp when the second leg takes place at the Parc des Princes on March 10

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Stats and facts from the match (Backed by Opta)

• In what is their 151st home match in the European Cup/Champions League, Barcelona have lost consecutive matches for the very first time.
• Barcelona have played 278 home matches in all European competitions and have lost by a 3+ goal margin only six times – the last two occasions have come in successive games at Camp Nou (0-3 vs Juventus, 1-4 vs PSG).
• Paris Saint-Germain became just the second French side to beat Barcelona at Camp Nou after Metz also won 4-1 in the 1984-85 Cup Winners’ Cup. French sides were winless in 10 subsequent visits (D2 L8).
• Coming into this game Barcelona were unbeaten in their last 15 UEFA Champions League knockout stage matches at Camp Nou (W13 D2) since losing 0-3 to Bayern Munich in 2012-13 in the semi-final.

RB Leipzig 0-2 Liverpool: Reds in control of Champions League tie with Salah and Mane on the scoresheet

Liverpool are back to winning ways after a run of three straight defeats and put one foot in the last eight of the Champions League with a 2-0 victory over RB Leipzig.

The first leg of the last-16 tie against the German side was played in Budapest due to German authorities not allowing any foreign teams to enter the country.

Liverpool quickly scored two goals after half-time with Mohamed Salah (53) and Sadio Mane (58) punishing some inexplicable defending from the Bundesliga side.

It looked to be a tricky encounter for Jurgen Klopp’s men against a Leipzig side that had already beaten both PSG and Manchester United on their way to the knockout stages, but they met a Liverpool side full of energy in midfield and ruthlessness in attack.

The second leg would be played on Wednesday, March 10 with Leipzig making a trip down to do the unsurmountable at Anfield.

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Stats and facts from the match (Backed by Opta)

• Since Klopp took charge of his first UEFA Champions League match at Liverpool in September 2017, the Reds have registered more clean sheets in the competition than any other side (18).
• RB Leipzig have managed only two clean sheets in their 11 home UEFA Champions League matches (W6 D2 L3) though this their first such defeat since October 2019 against Lyon.
• Amongst all players within the top five European leagues this season, only Robert Lewandowski (30) has scored more goals in all competitions than Liverpool’s Salah (24).
• Salah has scored 24 goals in 34 matches in all competitions this season, surpassing his tally for the entirety of the 2019-20 campaign, in which he netted 23 times in 48 appearances.
• Liverpool midfielder Thiago has now enjoyed a win in each of his last 11 UEFA Champions League appearances, the joint-longest run of wins by a Spaniard in the history of the competition alongside Javi Martinez (November 2020) and Dani Carvajal (April 2018).
• In what was his 114th appearance for Liverpool in all competitions, Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson registered his 50th clean sheet for the Reds, with only Jan Oblak (59) and Ederson (64) managing more amongst goalkeepers within the top five European leagues since he joined the Merseyside outfit in 2018-19.