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There were five minutes to go when Kylian Mbappé launched a beautiful shot into the far corner of the net, the ball describing a perfect arc and his perfect night. Marc-André ter Stegen dived but could not stop the Frenchman or anyone else. This was amazing, a declaration of intent and the kind of performance that should have taken place before 98,000 people surrendered to his superiority; Instead, a practically empty stadium saw him score a magnificent hat-trick that led Paris Saint-Germain to a deserved 4-1 victory at the Camp Nou.
In the end, Barcelona was broken, unable to coexist with opponents who were far above them in every way, the gap between these teams revealed gigantic. Barcelona’s recent recovery, if that’s what it was, was replaced by another reality. PSG were faster, smarter, better positioned, better with the ball, at ease even when they fell behind a Lionel Messi penalty. Even without Ángel Di María and Neymar, they were too good, Leandro Paredes and Marco Verratti took control and Mbappé disarmed Barcelona.
A rivalry with a short but intense story, a script with many subplots, has another episode and enters another era. It also has another main character; maybe world football will. If at some point in the morning the Barcelona players finally get some sleep, they will probably keep seeing Mbappé running towards them and disappearing into the distance, his feet rooted to the ground. He had done it from the start, escaping first after 49 seconds, and didn’t stop until he left with the ball under his arm at full time.
That first time, Ter Stegen nervously cleared up, but it was a glimpse into the future, a warning not to blink during an opening period that was quick, open and fun, at least for those who have no interest in it. There was a frankness, an intention in all of that that was illustrated early by Moise Kean that sped up Clément Lenglet. There was also tension, the feeling that anything could happen at any time, especially when Mbappé appeared. The question was whether they could keep up this pace. The answer was that PSG could. Barcelona could not.
There were also opportunities. A nice filtered pass from Pedri gave one to Antoine Griezmann, stopped by Keylor Navas. Five minutes later, Mbappé gave one to Mauro Icardi, only for Pedri to clear the line. Verratti then made a magnificent entrance to Griezmann. And then, at 25 minutes, Barcelona went ahead.
It was quite a mundane, almost bureaucratic way of opening the scoreboard given everything that had happened before and would come later. After all that intention, it was also accidental, Frenkie de Jong fell after his dragged leg brushed against Layvin Kurzawa’s knee. Björn Kuipers scored the point and Messi sent the penalty over Navas.
The response was quick, sure, and superbly taken. It was also sustained. Three minutes had passed when Verratti hit Mbappe with the outside of the boot. With his first touch, Mbappé spun, passed Lenglet and crashed into the roof of the net.
The storm was him and it had barely begun, Ter Stegen rejected Kurzawa and Kean’s shots. Between those two, Griezmann ran away only to throw his effort past the post. Then Icardi’s header came close to the edge of the break.
There was nothing stopping PSG now. Mbappé ran out of the tunnel and straight for Barcelona, immediately shooting wide; Icardi’s shot was blocked; and Ter Stegen made a magnificent Kean save after Mbappé’s escape and Icardi’s heel opened the opportunity. They had not yet gone out for five minutes but it was already a long time for Barcelona, unable to contain the tide, a penalty call for handball all they could muster.
PSG accelerated into the distance, a wonderful long pass from Paredes released Alessandro Florenzi, whose cut was finished off by Mbappé for the second. After gently turning Sergiño Dest a moment later, Ter Stegen denied Mbappé, but it was only a temporary respite. This was relentless now, Kean was heading to the Paredes curl delivery to make three. And, if the score was bad for Barcelona, the weather was worse: there were still 20 minutes left, the punishment destined to be more painful.
Navas almost gave Barcelona a goal with a rebound against Griezmann and that was his only “chance”, as PSG kept destroying them. With 10 minutes to go, Ronald Koeman made three changes but more than an act of faith, it was an act of mercy. Gerard Piqué, Dest and Pedri had already suffered enough. They all had. Mbappé, however, was not done yet.
