"Galactiques", headline in the daily
L'Equipe
, according to whom "if after that (Editor's note: the 4-1 victory at Camp Nou on Tuesday night in the round of 16 first leg), PSG does not qualify for the quarter-finals of the Champions League, we must really consider stopping football."
For the French daily, “to imagine that the champions of France take their revenge on Barcelona, four years after the traumatic remount (..), was not illusory.
But that they slap the Catalan club with as much violence during this eighth first leg, that they humiliate it in such proportions, that they put down the genius Lionel Messi as one sends a little boy to the corner (...) was more fiction than fantasy.
Yesterday evening, reality clearly exceeded them, thanks to a formidable collective force and to a hat-trick of an atomic Kylian Mbappé ”.
On the other side of the Pyrenees, the sports press is obviously ruthless against FC Barcelona, deeming its chances of “going up” in the second leg of the round of 16 next month in Paris.
“Mbappé went through Camp Nou and devastated it like a hurricane, with a historical exhibition, one that will remain etched in memories forever,” writes the Madrid daily
Marca
.
"Neymar and Di Maria were not lacking in PSG, led by an unstoppable Kylian and a colossal Verratti".
As for Barça, "he is light years away from the great dominators of the continent, once again humiliated in the Champions League," said
Marca
.
️ Esta es nuestra #PortadAS de hoy, miércoles 17 de
febrero Huracán Mbappé pic.twitter.com/Vfux1Ehupz
- Diario AS (@diarioas) February 16, 2021
"Mbappé chastises a frightened Barça", headlines the Barcelona daily
Mundo Deportivo
.
“Umpteenth European rout.
Barça remains very, very far from the level required for the Champions, ”he asserts.
The other Barcelona sports daily,
Sport
, also judges that, "pulverized by PSG", Barça "has still seriously slipped in Europe against a rival in which Mbappé has proven to be an uncontrollable giant."
"Again, Koeman's team has been resoundingly shattered in the face of one of those teams that used to impress them, and now terrorize, subdue and destroy them, showing them a mirror that reflects their image. of decrepitude which is not new, but which comes from afar, ”criticizes the Madrid daily
As
.
Succession to the top
The British press, for its part, underlines, like the tabloid
The Sun,
the "changing of the guard at the head of world football" illustrated by this match.
"Lionel Messi, long the greatest player on the planet not only of his time, but of all time, has been completely overtaken by Kylian Mbappé", underlines The Sun, according to whom the "French electric" of 22 years "seems now ready to wrest the crown of king of world football from Messi. "
"Messi has been the dominant player for the last ten years, and Mbappé will surely be the man of the next decade", also judges
The Telegraph
.
Mbappé "produced one of the greatest European hat tricks of recent years, while Messi stepped aside like a light bulb losing its power."
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