Champions League: Late Kylian Mbappe stunner gives PSG 1-0 home win over Real Madrid

It took PSG 94 minutes to find the winner with a brilliant run by Mbappe, who danced in between two defenders and calmly slid the ball into the far corner to earn PSG a deserved victory after they had dominated the encounter. PSG missed several chances and were thwarted by Real keeper Thibaut Courtois, who denied Mbappe on several occasions before superbly pushing away Messi’s spot kick in the second half.

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“It was a great game for us and I’m always ready to help my team, there are no distractions,” said Mbappe, who has now scored 13 goals in his last 13 Champions League matches. “We have to be humble and the second leg is still open. It will be a hard game but we will have the advantage and are very confident.”Real Madrid finished the game with zero shots on target while PSG had eight, with almost 60% of possession. Real will be without Casemiro and Ferland Mendy for the second leg at home on March 9.

PSG’s Kylian Mbappe, right, dribbles Real Madrid’s Dani Carvajal during the Champions League round of 16, first leg, match Paris Saint-Germain against Real Madrid at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Tuesday, Feb.15, 2022. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

The pair were both shown yellow cards and will be suspended for collecting three yellows in the competition.”Our counter-attack didn’t work today,” Courtois told reporters.

Kylian Mbappé: "We prepare for these big evenings because we dream of this kind of match."#UCL pic.twitter.com/LKf4bJpGvV

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“It’s hard to lose but the second leg is wide open. We have to win and we will try to do it in front of our fans, what is a great advantage.”Courtois repeatedly frustrated Messi and Mbappe. His best save came early in the second half when Messi stepped up for the penalty after Mbappe had been fouled inside the area by Dani Carvajal. The Belgian stretched low to his left to stop the Argentinian’s shot with his hand. But 30 minutes later Mbappe found the winner and Courtois could only watch as the ball went through his legs and into the corner of the net.”Mbappe is the best player in European football,” Real manager Carlo Ancelotti said. “We didn’t play well but we are not dead yet.”