Club Brugge 0-5 PSG: 3 reasons why Les Parisiens won | UEFA Champions League 2019-20
Paris Saint-Germain took a big leap towards the Champions League knockout stage as they thundered to a 5-0 victory over Club Brugge at the Jan Breydel Stadion on Tuesday night.
Kylian Mbappe stole the spotlight after he came on as a second-half substitute, as he netted a record-breaking hat-trick for the Ligue 1 giants. His goals took the Parisien outfit's tally to five after loan signing Mauro Icardi scored a brace to kick-start their rout of the Belgian giants.
The reigning French champions are now top of Group A with nine points from three games, five ahead of second-placed Real Madrid who edged out Galatasaray 1-0 in the group’s other game last night.
Thomas Tuchel's men have proven themselves to be adept at both sides of the field on the European stage, having plundered in nine goals and conceded none. They only need a point from their Group A home match against Brugge in November to secure their qualification into the next round.
Without further ado, we take a look at three reasons why PSG comfortably won against Brugge:
#1 A deadly substitution – Kylian Mbappe
Kylian Mbappe completely took the game away from Club Brugge merely minutes after he was introduced into the thick of the action in the second half. The 20-year-old was involved in all four of PSG’s goals since coming on, netting three times and setting up one.
The France international doubled his side's lead as he netted his first goal in the 61st minute before providing the assist for Icardi’s second goal just two minutes later.
The World Cup winner, who has been struggling with injuries this season and had previously scored just thrice in seven appearances, found the back of the net for the second time in the 79th minute before rounding off the scoring by completing a sensational hat-trick four minutes later.
Mbappe's hat-trick saw him surpass Lionel Messi as the youngest player to score 15 goals in the competition, at 20 years and 306 days.
The PSG sensation, who made a comeback from the sidelines by playing just seven minutes in PSG’s 4-1 win over Nice in Ligue 1 last Friday, looked fresh. His frightening pace was too hot for the Club Brugge defenders to handle, and a performance like this is certain to boost his confidence level for the remainder of the season.