Kylian Mbappe received a brutally low rating from L’Equipe after PSG’s 3-2 defeat by Barcelona on Wednesday night.
The two European giants faced off in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final at the Parc des Princes, and it was Barcelona who came out on top thanks to a brace from former Leeds star Raphinha, before ex-Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen netted the winner.
PSG rallied at the start of the second half with two goals in as many minutes from Ousmane Dembele and Vitinha, but Barcelona finished strongly to leave the French side with an uphill take heading into next week’s return leg in Spain.
Mbappe was involved in the build-up to Dembele’s goal, but did not escape the wrath of L’Equipe as they gave him just a 3/10 and hit out at him for failing to deliver a match-winning performance by claiming the PSG striker was ‘eagerly awaited but missed his appointment’.
They added that Mbappe was ‘not very dangerous’ during the match, and criticised the 25-year-old for often taking the easy option and passing rather than attempting to dribble past Barcelona defenders Jules Kounde and Ronald Araujo.
It was an off-night for Mbappe, but he was not the only one to be slammed by L’Equipe.
Marco Asensio started the game in the ‘false nine’ role but struggled to make an impact and was replaced at half-time, leading to L’Equipe giving him a 3/10 as well.
The same mark was awarded to goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma after he endured a night to forget.
Donnarumma failed to cut out Lamine Yamal’s cross for Raphinha’s opener, and then stayed on his line to allow Christensen to head home from inside the six-yard box in the second half.
But the worst score of the night went to PSG centre back Lucas Beraldo who had a torrid game up against Robert Lewandowski.
Beraldo was unable to contain the Polish forward and was booked for his troubles as he was rated just 2/10 by L’Equipe.
PSG boss Luis Enrique earned some praise for acting swiftly at half-time to bring on the lively Bradley Barcola for Asensio, but was also criticised for getting his starting XI wrong in the first place, and was given a 5/10.
The average rating for PSG’s players and manager was 4.4, some way below the 5.8 given to Barcelona.
Raphinha earned the highest mark – 8/10 – following his goals in both halves, while Lewandowski was just behind on 7.
Barcelona manager Xavi also received a 7 for his decisive substitutions after Pedri and Christensen starred off the bench.
Pedri produced a delightful through ball for Raphinha to make it 2-2, and Christensen then scored within seconds of being introduced to the action.
There were also some below-par displays from the visitors, though, with Sergi Roberto being scored a 4/10, while former Manchester City defender Joao Cancelo, Frenkie de Jong and Yamal – who set up Raphinha’s goal but then faded out of the game – were each given a 5/10 rating.
