Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe will be key for Paris Saint-Germain as they will take on Bayern Munich in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 at the Allianz Arena. PSG are missing the services of Neymar and in his absence the onus will be on Mbappe and Messi to do well and guide the French outfit to the next round.
Both the teams met each other in the first leg where Kingsley COman scored the only goal in the game and allowed Bayern to take a 1-0 advantage in the tie. But now PSG will be looking to redeem themselves in the second leg and go ahead in the competition.
Ahead of the match, PSG midfielder Marco Verratti shared that it is of prime important that both Messi and Mbappe are available for this clash as they will be needed at the Allianz Arena. “In matches like that, we need everyone. Mbappé is a player who is always present in the big matches. We need the eleven who start and those who will return. Bayern are used to to play these matches, which is prepared,” the Italian stated at the press conference.
“We have to be 100% in all areas. Having Kylian and Leo (Messi), players with great experience is a help.”
The Parisians lacked that motivation in the first leg as Bayern took the lead. But once Mbappe came on the field, PSG had the upper hand with his relentless attacks alongwith Messi and Nuno Mendes from left flank. They kept the Bayern defenders on their toes and that till be the aim for Mbappe and Messi heading into this game aswell. They will look to torment the Bayern defense and would like to score early in the game to set the tone.
Recently Thierry Henry also tipped Kylian Mbappe as the successor of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. He feels that the youngster has shown enough hunger and class to prove that he is next in line to achieve greatness of this level. The 24-year-old is already a World Cup winner and in Qatar he fell short in the final but bagged the Golden Ball for scoring eight goals. He has already amassed 201 goals for PSG and is the club’s all-time top scorer surpassing Edinson Cavani.
“When you look at the two bosses before him, (Cristiano) Ronaldo and Messi, it’s the same thing. That’s why I called him the heir because he’s the one who comes after for me and that’s clear,” Henry lauds Mbappe.
