Kylian Mbappe can go on to be the equal of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo after his hat-trick saw Paris Saint-Germain destroy Barcelona 4-1 in the Champions League.
That was the gracious take of Mbappe s France team-mate Antoine Griezmann, who was on the receiving end of his countryman s heroics at Camp Nou in Tuesday s last-16 first leg.
Messi gave Barca the lead from the penalty spot to score in Europe s top competition for a 17th consecutive season, matching a record set by Real Madrid great Raul.
From then on, however, it was the Mbappe show as Barcelona suffered another humiliating outing on the biggest stage.
A superb equaliser created by Marco Verratti meant it was all square at the interval and Mbappe fired Mauricio Pochettino s men ahead after the hour and completed the rout with a sumptuous finish into the top corner after Moise Kean headed home Leandro Paredes free-kick.
PSG have a very big star of the future who will be at the level of Leo and Cristiano, Griezmann told RMC sport.
I can only congratulate him.
Mbappe became the third player in Champions League history to score a hat-trick against Barcelona and the first for almost a quarter of century after Newcastle United s Faustino Asprilla and Dynamo Kiev s Andriy Shevchenko both achieved the feat in 1997.
It was a sensational all-round performance from the 22-year-old, who also made four key passes to create chances for his team-mates.
1 Paris have become the first French side to beat Barcelona at Camp Nou in Champions League, after 10 games without a win for French clubs against them (D2 L8). Relief.
— OptaJean (@OptaJean)
We needed to have a perfect match. We didn t and they did. It s a big defeat, Griezmann said.
We were ready, we wanted to play a big game, but they were better than us. There is nothing to say. Kylian was having a great night.
Barca need an improbable repeat of the heroics that saw them overturn a 4-0 first-leg deficit against PSG at the same stage in 2017 when they head to Paris for the return next month.
Despite the odds being stacked heavily against Ronald Koeman s side, Griezmann is not giving up.
You have to go there to win and turn the situation around. We re not going to go there as tourists, he added.
