Christophe Galtier returns to his counterattacking best to revive PSG

“P lanet Mbappé” read the headline of this morning’sl’Équipe. It has seemed for some time that this is his world and we are all just living in it, especially after his performances at the World Cup. But just as it looked like he could not burnish his status as the world’s best footballer any more, he showed again on Sunday evening that there is always another level to his game.

Not only did he score a brace for PSG in their 3-0 win against Marseille at the Vélodrome to go level with Edinson Cavani as the club’s joint all-time top scorer, but he also set up Lionel Messi for the other goal and terrorised the Marseille defence throughout. Admittedly, the absence of Samuel Gigot and Chancel Mbemba helped Mbappé slice through the hosts’ midfield and back three, but PSG were also missing key players.

They were not big favourites before this match. Their form has been wobbly at best since the World Cup, winning just six of their 10 league matches, being knocked out of the Coupe de France by Marseille three weeks ago and losing 1-0 to Bayern Munich in the first leg of their last-16 tie in the Champions League.

The club has been roiled by rumours of infighting and they went to the Vélodrome without Neymar, Renato Sanches and Achraf Hakimi. A win for Marseille would have taken them within two points of the leaders, who were also looking over their shoulders at Monaco and Lens before they dropped points earlier in the weekend. There has been a palpable sense of worry at PSG of late, with the ropy nature of their win over Lille last weekend fresh in the mind.

Having Kylian Mbappé and Messi gives any team a chance, but there was a feeling that their depleted team would capitulate in the boiling atmosphere of the Vélodrome, blowing