KYLIAN MBAPPE and a Lionel Messi in vintage form both scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain crushed Israel’s Maccabi Haifa 7-2 on Tuesday to secure a place in the last 16 of this season’s Champions League with one group game to spare.
Neymar was on target too, and the Brazilian also forced an own goal from Maccabi defender Sean Goldberg before Carlos Soler completed the rout as the Parisians netted seven times in a Champions League game for the first time since November 2017.
The win means PSG have qualified from Group H along with Benfica, although it will go down to next week’s final matchday to decide who advances in first place and therefore benefits from a theoretically kinder draw in the next round.
Maccabi Haifa, who saw Senegalese defender Abdoulaye Seck score both of their goals, are eliminated along with Juventus but the Israeli champions could still pip the Italian giants to third place and Europa League football after the break for the World Cup.
The upcoming tournament in Qatar is surely a factor in the outstanding early-season form of Messi and Neymar in particular, and along with Mbappe they turned on the style to leave Maccabi regularly looking dazed and confused in defence.
Mbappe’s latest goals — his fifth and sixth in this season’s Champions League taking him to 16 in all competitions — came a day after reports emerged in France of the eye-watering details of his new contract at PSG.
- Eye-watering contract -
Newspaper Le Parisien reported on Monday that the Qatar-owned club were paying the France striker a total of 630 million euros ($627.8m) before tax over the duration of the three-year deal he signed in May.
The net sum would be slightly less than half that amount. The figures reported are higher than the 555 million euros gross that Messi was reported by Spanish daily El Mundo to have earned over his final four years at Barcelona.
After a difficult first season in Paris, Messi is now looking more like the player he was in Catalonia and he opened the scoring here in the 19th minute.
Mbappe laid the ball back to the Argentine who took a touch before sending a shot across goalkeeper Josh Cohen and into the far corner of the net with the outside of his left boot.
Mbappe then needed treatment after being sent crashing into the advertising boards by Seck, but he quickly recovered to make it 2-0 just past the half-hour mark with a beautiful curling strike into the same corner.
It was from virtually the same spot in the box that Neymar made it 3-0 after being set up by Messi, but the Israelis did then pull one back as Seck headed in from an Omer Atzili dead-ball delivery.
Then came what was probably the night’s outstanding goal, as Messi linked up brilliantly with Mbappe before jinking his way into a shooting position and burying a shot into the bottom-left corner.
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It was his 11th goal of the season, meaning he has now matched his tally for the whole of the last campaign.
The goals kept coming after half-time, albeit not for Messi.
Seck pulled a second goal back with a looping header over Gianluigi Donnarumma, but then Mbappe made it 5-2 as he controlled Achraf Hakimi’s cross and whipped a stunning shot into the far corner from the left side of the box.
The unfortunate Goldberg gave PSG their sixth and Messi crashed a shot off the bar before substitute Soler put the seal on the victory.
Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel’s penalty save from Riyad Mahrez helped his side to a goalless draw with Manchester City on Tuesday and qualification for the Champions League last 16.
Mahrez was brought down by Emre Can in the 56th minute but Kobel pushed away the Algerian’s effort from the spot to help his side through to the knockout stage for the seventh time in nine years.
Premier League champions City sit three points clear of Dortmund in Group G and are confirmed as group winners due to their superior head-to-head record.
With City already qualified for the last 16, coach Pep Guardiola rotated his starting line-up, with Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish and goalkeeper Ederson among the substitutes, giving former Arminia Bielefeld ‘keeper Stefan Ortega his debut.
Red-hot striker Erling Haaland, playing in front of Dortmund’s famous yellow wall for the first time since leaving the club for City, had few clear chances in the first period and was subbed off at half-time, likely with the Saturday clash with Leicester in mind.
Sevilla’s 3-0 defeat of FC Copenhagen earlier on Tuesday left Dortmund only needing a draw to qualify.
The teenage duo of Karim Adeyemi and Youssoufa Moukoko had several first-half chances to give Dortmund the lead, but it was City who had the best opportunity of the match.
Former Liverpool midfielder Can, standing in for the suspended Salih Ozcan, struggled with City’s pace on the counter and gave away a clear spot-kick.
Mahrez struck the penalty solidly but Swiss ‘keeper Kobel got both palms on the ball to keep City scoreless.
In the closing stages, both sides appeared content to share the honours, eliminating Sevilla and Copenhagen.
In the final Group G games next week, Dortmund travel to Copenhagen while Man City host Sevilla.
Meanwhile, AC Milan are best-placed to go through with already-qualified Chelsea after the Serie A champions won 4-0 in Zagreb, with Matteo Gabbia heading in the opener and Rafael Leao doubling their lead before Olivier Giroud netted a penalty and a Robert Ljubicic own goal completed the scoring.
Milan are now a point clear of Salzburg with the teams meeting at San Siro next week to decide which one progresses.
Finally, RB Leipzig inflicted a first defeat of the season on reigning European champions Real Madrid as they took a big step towards joining the Spaniards in qualifying from Group F.
Joskpo Gvardiol and Christopher Nkunku scored to have Leipzig two goals ahead before Vinicius Junior pulled one back. Timo Werner got Leipzig’s third with Rodrygo converting a late penalty for Real as it ended 3-2.
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Messi stars as PSG hit 7, Man City kept scoreless on Haaland's return
Updated at 23.13
KYLIAN MBAPPE and a Lionel Messi in vintage form both scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain crushed Israel’s Maccabi Haifa 7-2 on Tuesday to secure a place in the last 16 of this season’s Champions League with one group game to spare.
Neymar was on target too, and the Brazilian also forced an own goal from Maccabi defender Sean Goldberg before Carlos Soler completed the rout as the Parisians netted seven times in a Champions League game for the first time since November 2017.
The win means PSG have qualified from Group H along with Benfica, although it will go down to next week’s final matchday to decide who advances in first place and therefore benefits from a theoretically kinder draw in the next round.
Maccabi Haifa, who saw Senegalese defender Abdoulaye Seck score both of their goals, are eliminated along with Juventus but the Israeli champions could still pip the Italian giants to third place and Europa League football after the break for the World Cup.
The upcoming tournament in Qatar is surely a factor in the outstanding early-season form of Messi and Neymar in particular, and along with Mbappe they turned on the style to leave Maccabi regularly looking dazed and confused in defence.
Mbappe’s latest goals — his fifth and sixth in this season’s Champions League taking him to 16 in all competitions — came a day after reports emerged in France of the eye-watering details of his new contract at PSG.
- Eye-watering contract -
Newspaper Le Parisien reported on Monday that the Qatar-owned club were paying the France striker a total of 630 million euros ($627.8m) before tax over the duration of the three-year deal he signed in May.
The net sum would be slightly less than half that amount. The figures reported are higher than the 555 million euros gross that Messi was reported by Spanish daily El Mundo to have earned over his final four years at Barcelona.
After a difficult first season in Paris, Messi is now looking more like the player he was in Catalonia and he opened the scoring here in the 19th minute.
Mbappe laid the ball back to the Argentine who took a touch before sending a shot across goalkeeper Josh Cohen and into the far corner of the net with the outside of his left boot.
Mbappe then needed treatment after being sent crashing into the advertising boards by Seck, but he quickly recovered to make it 2-0 just past the half-hour mark with a beautiful curling strike into the same corner.
It was from virtually the same spot in the box that Neymar made it 3-0 after being set up by Messi, but the Israelis did then pull one back as Seck headed in from an Omer Atzili dead-ball delivery.
Then came what was probably the night’s outstanding goal, as Messi linked up brilliantly with Mbappe before jinking his way into a shooting position and burying a shot into the bottom-left corner.
It was his 11th goal of the season, meaning he has now matched his tally for the whole of the last campaign.
The goals kept coming after half-time, albeit not for Messi.
Seck pulled a second goal back with a looping header over Gianluigi Donnarumma, but then Mbappe made it 5-2 as he controlled Achraf Hakimi’s cross and whipped a stunning shot into the far corner from the left side of the box.
The unfortunate Goldberg gave PSG their sixth and Messi crashed a shot off the bar before substitute Soler put the seal on the victory.
Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel’s penalty save from Riyad Mahrez helped his side to a goalless draw with Manchester City on Tuesday and qualification for the Champions League last 16.
Mahrez was brought down by Emre Can in the 56th minute but Kobel pushed away the Algerian’s effort from the spot to help his side through to the knockout stage for the seventh time in nine years.
Premier League champions City sit three points clear of Dortmund in Group G and are confirmed as group winners due to their superior head-to-head record.
With City already qualified for the last 16, coach Pep Guardiola rotated his starting line-up, with Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish and goalkeeper Ederson among the substitutes, giving former Arminia Bielefeld ‘keeper Stefan Ortega his debut.
Red-hot striker Erling Haaland, playing in front of Dortmund’s famous yellow wall for the first time since leaving the club for City, had few clear chances in the first period and was subbed off at half-time, likely with the Saturday clash with Leicester in mind.
Sevilla’s 3-0 defeat of FC Copenhagen earlier on Tuesday left Dortmund only needing a draw to qualify.
The teenage duo of Karim Adeyemi and Youssoufa Moukoko had several first-half chances to give Dortmund the lead, but it was City who had the best opportunity of the match.
Former Liverpool midfielder Can, standing in for the suspended Salih Ozcan, struggled with City’s pace on the counter and gave away a clear spot-kick.
Mahrez struck the penalty solidly but Swiss ‘keeper Kobel got both palms on the ball to keep City scoreless.
In the closing stages, both sides appeared content to share the honours, eliminating Sevilla and Copenhagen.
In the final Group G games next week, Dortmund travel to Copenhagen while Man City host Sevilla.
Meanwhile, AC Milan are best-placed to go through with already-qualified Chelsea after the Serie A champions won 4-0 in Zagreb, with Matteo Gabbia heading in the opener and Rafael Leao doubling their lead before Olivier Giroud netted a penalty and a Robert Ljubicic own goal completed the scoring.
Milan are now a point clear of Salzburg with the teams meeting at San Siro next week to decide which one progresses.
Finally, RB Leipzig inflicted a first defeat of the season on reigning European champions Real Madrid as they took a big step towards joining the Spaniards in qualifying from Group F.
Joskpo Gvardiol and Christopher Nkunku scored to have Leipzig two goals ahead before Vinicius Junior pulled one back. Timo Werner got Leipzig’s third with Rodrygo converting a late penalty for Real as it ended 3-2.
UEFA Champions League results on Tuesday:
Group E
Salzburg (AUT) 1 (Adamu 49) Chelsea (ENG) 2 (Kovacic 23, Havertz 64)
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) 0 AC Milan (ITA) 4 (Gabbia 39, Leao 49, Giroud 49-pen, Ljubicic 69-og)
Group F
Celtic (SCO) 1 (Giakoumakis 34) Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) 1 (Mudryk 58)
RB Leipzig (GER) 3 (Gvardiol 13, Nkunku 18, Werner 81) Real Madrid (ESP) 2 (Vinicius 44, Rodrygo 90+3-pen)
Group G
Sevilla (ESP) 3 (En-Nesyri 61, Isco 88, Montiel 90+2)) FC Copenhagen (DEN) 0
Borussia Dortmund (GER) 0 Manchester City (ENG) 0
Group H
Benfica (POR) 4 (A. Silva 17, Joao Mario 28-pen, R. Silva 35, 50) Juventus (ITA) 3 (Kean 21, Milik 77, McKennie 79)
Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) 7 (Messi 19, 45, Mbappe 32, 64, Neymar 35, Goldberg 67-og, Soler 84) Maccabi Haifa (ISR) 2 (Seck 38, 50)
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ERLING Haaland Lionel Messi Return Manchester City PSG Wrap