CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Mbappe history again as PSG finish on winning note
PARIS: Kylian Mbappe became the youngest player to reach 30 Champions League goals as Paris Saint-Germain rounded off Group A with a win over Club Bruges.
The hosts were already guaranteed to qualify for the knockout stage in second place, behind Manchester City, while defeat sees Club Brugge finish bottom.
Mbappe all but put the game to bed inside seven minutes, scoring twice in quick succession for the home side. Lionel Messi also scored twice either side of a Bruges consolation.
Mats Rits beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma with a slotted finish for the visitors, who created several good chances.
Mbappe’s first came after 72 seconds, firing into the bottom corner when goalkeeper Simon Mignolet palmed a cross into his path, before the France forward volleyed in from Angel di Maria’s clipped pass soon after.
That took him to 31 goals in Europe’s elite competition, passing the 30-goal landmark at the age of 22 years and 352 days to surpass Messi, who was 23 years and 131 days when he reached that target.
Mbappe then set up the man whose record he had just broken, though PSG’s third was a classic Messi dribble and finish.
The 34-year-old scampered to the edge of the Bruges box, shifted the ball on to his left foot and curled into the corner to score against a 38th different side in the competition, a joint-record alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi grabbed his second after Rits had responded for the Belgian side, slotting in from the spot after he was fouled for his fifth Champions League goal this season and 125th in total.
Liverpool became the first English side to win all six Champions League group games as they completed a perfect journey into the knockout stage with victory over AC Milan in Italy.
Manager Jurgen Klopp made eight changes with qualification for the last 16 already assured as group winners, while the Serie A leaders went in search of the win they hoped would secure their own passage into the next phase.
Milan’s hopes rose on the half-hour when Takumi Minamino missed a near-post corner and goalkeeper Alisson could only push the ball out to England defender Fikayo Tomori, who scored from close range.
Liverpool’s line-up may have had an unfamiliar appearance but they were by far the more accomplished side. Mohamed Salah was in the starting line-up and once again demonstrated his predatory instincts with the equaliser seven minutes later, driving home the rebound after Milan keeper Mike Maignan saved from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
It meant the prolific Salah became the first Liverpool player since Ian Rush to score 20 goals in five successive seasons, also scoring the most goals for the club in the group stage of a European competition with seven.
Liverpool continued to dominate and Divock Origi scored his first goal in the competition since the 2019 Champions League final against Tottenham when he headed in after Maignan saved from Mane 10 minutes after the break.
Manchester City ended their Champions League group campaign with defeat by RB Leipzig in a match played without fans because of Covid-19 restrictions.
Pep Guardiola opted to field a strong side, which included a first club start since 6 November for Kevin de Bruyne, despite last season’s runners-up having sealed top spot in Group A with one game to spare.
But the Premier League leaders finished the six-match group stage without a clean sheet after Hungary midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai and Portugal forward Andre Silva scored for Leipzig, who parted company with their manager over the weekend.
City also finished with 10 men after Kyle Walker was shown a straight red card in the last 10 minutes for an unnecessary foul on Silva.
Szoboszlai had rounded keeper Zack Steffen to open the scoring before Silva, who had earlier been denied by City’s second-choice keeper, doubled the lead with a neat finish.
The visitors, who put six past Leipzig at Etihad Stadium in September, suffered a frustrating night at an empty Red Bull Arena with Phil Foden having a shot tipped on to the post before Riyad Mahrez reduced the deficit with a diving header.
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