‘Kylian Mbappe Was Invisible’ – Fans React As Barcelona Beat PSG In Champions League Cracker

Barcelona recorded a 3-2 win over Paris St-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash while also ensuring that Kylian Mbappe had a quiet night in Paris for the first time in 12 home games in the competition.

PSG superstar, Kylian Mbappe endured a frustrating evening as he struggled to make things happen in the game. Football fans took to social media after the game to react to an unusually quiet night from the French star.

He failed to record any shot on target as he was marked by Barcelona’s latest star from the famed La Masia Academy, Pau Cubarsi.

At 17 years and 79 days old, Pau Cubarsí became the youngest defender in Champions League history to start a quarter-final match.

Cunti took to X to hail the young star for silencing Kylian Mbappe.

He said: “Let the world know that 17-year-old Pau Cubarsi has completely stopped Mbappe tonight.”

Cristiano also had his day on Mbappe’s poor performance in the game on X:

He said: “Kylian Mbappe was invisible, A player of his quality can’t have this little impact on a night like this.”

Barcelona fan, Tega waxed lyrical about how the club’s defenders dealt with Mbappe.

He wrote on X: “Mbappe started down the middle,Araujo man handled him, He then ran to the right, Cubarsi was waiting for him, Mbappe moved to the left, Kounde dealt with him for the remainder of the game 0 goals. 0 assist, My defenders ran a train on him.”

Raphinha gave Barcelona the lead just before halftime with a stunning effort to stun the hosts.

Ousmane Dembele restored parity for PSG against his former club with a rasping effort to make it 1-1 three minutes after the restart.

Vitinha turned the game around with the second goal for PSG to give them a 2-1 lead before Raphinha dragged Barcelona back into the game with another effort to make it 2-2 following a good work from substitute Pedri.

Christensen scored the third goal to give Barcelona a slender advantage going into the second leg in Spain.

Barcelona manager, Xavi Hernandez was full of praise for his players following a hard-fought 3-2 win in Paris.

Xavi said: “We had time to prepare for this game and everything turned out very well, in defence and in attack. We are proud of the team. Paris played very well, but we kept their threat to a minimum,”

The victory was Barcelona’s first away win in the knockout stage of the competition since 2019 and Xavi is confident the players can build on it to make their own history.

He said: “The players believe in themselves,they have this opportunity, and if they play in the same way they will get chances. Nothing is done, but we can be proud. This match shows that Barca are very much alive.”

The second leg comes up on Tuesday, April 16 at Montjuic, Barcelona’s temporary home.

Rodrigo De Paul and Samuel Lino scored for Atletico Madrid, Sebastian Haller scored the only goal for Dortmund as Diego Simeone’s side earned a 2-1 win in Spain.