The Parisians were back at Camp Nou for the first time since their humiliating Champions League collapse in 2017 when they were thumped 6-1 after winning the first leg 4-0, and they got a semblance of revenge with an emphatic victory.
Barcelona took the lead through Messi; scoring his fourth goal in the Champions League this season after Layvin Kurzawa brought down Frenkie de Jong.
though It was an accidental trip by the French full-back, he made contact with the Dutchman.
Messi’s penalty was emphatically slotted home and 2021 is now the 17th consecutive calendar year that he has scored in the Champions League, equalling Real Madrid legend Raul Gonzalez’s record, set between 1995-2011.
Mbappe doubled Barca’s misery in the second half and similarly Moise Kean got PSG’s third soon after before the French star completed his treble with a sumptuous finish on the break that will likely put the tie beyond Barca, though they have pulled off more unlikely comebacks before.
𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇, 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇 ! 🤩🔴🔵
Rendez-vous au Parc le 🔟 mars ! ⚡️#UCL | #FCBPSG pic.twitter.com/C1H13UsTeW
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) February 16, 2021
“You say he’s the future, but he is now,” former England midfielder Owen Hargreaves said on BT Sport. “PSG have to lock him down real quick. Everyone will find enough money for Mbappe.
“It was a performance like the old Brazilian Ronaldo. You’re not signing anyone other than Mbappe at the moment. He ripped the life out of every Barca player. In that form, at 22 with a year left on his contract, he is an absolute diamond.”
Manager Ronald Koeman has tried to mend an aging squad but they look far from their imperious best with the league title looking lost too, eight points adrift of leaders Atletico Madrid who have a game in hand.
The defeat against PSG meant they lost back-to-back home games in the European Cup for the first time in their illustrious history, while they were also defeated by a margin of three or more goals for only the sixth time in the competition.
“We have to admit that they have been superior,” said Koeman. “They have shown that they have a more complete team than us. We have to accept it, improve things.”
The second leg takes place on 20 March in Paris; by which time PSG hopes to have Neymar back from a thigh injury to face his former side.