Kylian Mbappe: Carlo Ancelotti, Thierry Henry praise 'best player in Europe' after Paris Saint-Germain beat Real Madrid
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Updated 16/02/2022 at 12:16 GMT
Real Madrid nearly clung on to a battling draw in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash at the Parc des Princes, but long-time transfer target Kylian Mbappe produced a sensational winner in stoppage time to deny the club he may join in the summer. Carlo Ancelotti feels his side are still right in the tie ahead of the second leg in the Spanish capital.
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Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti hailed Kylian Mbappe as “the best player in European football” after his stunning Champions League winner for Paris Saint-Germain.
Mbappe scored a fine individual goal deep into injury-time to give PSG a 1-0 win over Real in the first leg of their last-16 tie in Paris.
The 23-year-old is out of contract in the summer and has been strongly linked with a move to the Bernabeu.
“Mbappe is the best player in European football,” said Ancelotti.
“Mbappe is unstoppable, we have tried to control him. [Eder] Militao has done very well, but he is a player who always invents something.”
Former France international Thierry Henry says Mbappe is one of the few players that makes him “jump out of his seat”.
Mbappe squeezed between two defenders before slotting past Thibaut Courtois to score the winner.
“This is the type of player... the other day I was speaking to a friend of mine and I was like: ‘There’s not many people who will make me jump out of my seat or make me scream,’” said Henry on CBS Sports.
“This is what you want to see, this is why you put your TV on, because you want to see people unlocking something.
“I always go on about one-v-one, all the time coach tells you: ‘The ball has to go there, the ball has to go there, you have to pull it back, switch it’. What happened to instinct? What happened to one-v-one? And this guy has plenty of it. Let him play, let us enjoy it, but what a night, what a goal and I’m sure it won’t be the last.”
Real looked as though they were going to hold on for a draw after defending for much of the match and seeing Courtois save a second-half penalty from Lionel Messi.
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Lionel Messi saw a penalty saved by Thibaut Courtois
Image credit: Getty Images
“We didn’t play well but we are not dead yet,” said Ancelotti ahead of the second leg on March 9.
“We need to press more in the second leg. We are behind on the scoreboard and need to be better on the ball, which we didn’t do well today.
“We couldn’t get out with the ball and we misplaced a lot of passes because of their high press. They did that well and put us under difficulty in that sense.
“Our quality didn’t come through tonight because we really struggled against the press. We needed to be a bit more aggressive in the low block but it wasn’t a conservative approach, to try to use the ball when we had it, as we usually do, but it wasn’t to be today.”
Real will be without Ferland Mendy and Casemiro in the second leg due to suspension.
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