Rio Ferdinand thinks Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe is ready to take over from Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the best player on the planet following his hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Barcelona on Tuesday night.
The 22-year-old helped carve out a big advantage in the first leg of the last-16 tie, equalising after Lionel Messi opened the scoring and netting twice more.
Moise Kean was the other scorer in a superb night for PSG and Ferdinand reckons Mbappe is currently “standing alone” as the heir to Ronaldo and Messi’s throne.
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Ferdinand said on BT Sport: “This guy will take over the throne from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo one day. This is a statement from Mbappe. Mbappe is on his own, out of the young players, he’s on his own. He’s won the World Cup and been immense in the Champions League.
“He will take the crown from Messi and Ronaldo and be there, he’s standing alone at the moment and it’s up for other players to catch up with him now.”
Reacting to the win, PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino told UEFA: “There are 90 minutes left and they have great players. There’s still a second leg.
“Perfection doesn’t exist. I’m happy with the result and performance, but we have to stay humble. We have a big match against Monaco on Sunday and we’re already thinking about that.”
On Mbappe, the former Tottenham boss said: “There’s no doubt that Kylian is one of the best players in the world, despite his young age. He’s already done extraordinary things, but we have to stay humble.”
The result leaves Barca requiring another considerable comeback heading into the second leg at the Parc des Princes on March 10, four years on from the sides’ memorable last-16 clash in which the LaLiga outfit recovered from a 4-0 first-leg loss in France by winning the second 6-1 at the Nou Camp.
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