Magical Mbappé makes Real Madrid smile even in sending them to defeat

“How do you ignore the context?” Kylian Mbappé asked. “Easy: play football.” And better than anyone else. Everybody knew he was special, a World Cup winner at 19, his goal in the final against Croatia one of more than 200 he has scored already aged 23, the man for whom Paris Saint-Germain turned down €200m even as they knew that would probably mean losing him for free, but this was still a moment that hit you in the face.

It hit Mauricio Pochettino, at least. Asked what he felt when Mbappé scored the 94th-minute winner here against Real Madrid, the PSG coach replied: “Two things. First, happiness. Then, pain. Leandro Paredes leapt into me so hard that I thought I had broken my nose.” Along the touchline, Mbappé was going wild, teammates piling in. There was no choreography, and no apology either, no sign of mixed emotions, just release. Maybe a touch of vindication too. There, told you.

He told everyone, on all sides. The Parc des Princes erupted, except in the corner where they had cheered Mbappé before the game, applauding as his name was read out. Madrid’s fans had serenaded him then and were quiet now, but there was admiration and anticipation too. From many Madrid supporters, not so much here as elsewhere, there was soon something that looked like celebration.

Mbappé had received the ball below them, pushing Madrid back into their area one last time, then gone between Lucas Vázquez and Éder Militão and put the ball between Thibaut Courtois’ legs and into the net.

“To concede a silly goal at the end is hard to take,” the goalkeeper said, but that’s not how you spell bloody brilliant. “It was really stupid to lose the ball, he goes away from two people too easily and then I have the bad luck that it goes through my