Kylian Mbappe endured an uncharacteristically quiet night as Paris Saint-Germain were beaten by a spirited Manchester City comeback in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie.
The French superstar started alongside Neymar in Wednesday’s eagerly anticipated clash at the Parc des Princes after shaking off a knock that saw him forced off after scoring twice in Saturday’s 3-1 Ligue 1 win at Metz.
However, it was not nearly the sort of explosive performance we have come to expect from Mbappe, who had his moments but was mostly held in check by a colossal performance from City centre-back and record signing Ruben Dias.
Not only did the 22-year-old fail to score in the first leg, but he also did not manage to produce a single shot at Ederson’s goal across a thrilling 90 minutes.
To showcase what a rare phenomenon that is, bookmakers Betfair tweeted after the match that Mbappe’s odds of registering at least one effort were 1/80 ahead of kick-off.
Borussia Dortmund goal machine Erling Haaland also struggled against Dias and John Stones in the quarter-finals, while Tottenham’s Harry Kane could not find a way through Dias and match-winner Aymeric Laporte in Sunday’s Carabao Cup Final at Wembley.
Mauricio Pochettino will be hoping for a much improved display from Mbappe in next week’s all-important second leg at the Etihad Stadium.
With Neymar producing a memorable first-half display full of trickery, flicks and speed, PSG led at the interval on Wednesday courtesy of another header from captain Marquinhos.
However, Neymar - like Mbappe - struggled notably thereafter, with City producing a rousing fightback courtesy of Kevin De Bruyne’s cross that flew all the way past Keylor Navas and a Riyad Mahrez free-kick that flew straight through the PSG wall.
To compound matters for Pochettino and PSG, midfielder Idrissa Gueye was shown a deserved straight red card 13 minutes from time for a woeful challenge on Ilkay Gundogan.
