Mbappe, Messi bag braces against Brugge
Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi both scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain rounded out their Champions League group-stage campaign with a 4-1 thumping of Club Brugge yesterday morning (Singapore time).
France forward Mbappe put the Ligue 1 side 2-0 up after just seven minutes before Messi added a third before the break. The Argentinian rounded off the scoring with a penalty on 76 minutes, eight minutes after Mats Rits pulled one back for the visitors at the Parc des Princes.
PSG were guaranteed second place in Group A before kick off while Manchester City, who lost 2-1 at RB Leipzig, had already secured top spot and finished with 12 points, one ahead of Mauricio Pochettino's PSG side.
Brugge were eliminated from European competition after finishing bottom with four points, three behind Leipzig.
Mbappe's brace makes him the youngest player to reach 30 goals in the Champions League, less than two weeks before his 23rd birthday.
Meanwhile, Messi now has 125 Champions League goals, a tally bettered only by his old rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 140.
Said Mbappe: "It's easy to play with Lionel Messi.
"He's the best player in the world. He won the Ballon d'Or a few days ago.
"He scored two goals today, he is happy, and I hope he will help us in the future."
Midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum, however, felt PSG had room to improve, saying: "We started really well. But we also had some down moments, where we lost a lot of easy balls, especially in the second half.
"That makes it more difficult, and they scored, and we had to change something. That's why I think we still have things to improve." - REUTERS, AFP
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