Mbappé gives PSG late win over Real Madrid after Messi has penalty saved

Suddenly, there was Kylian Mbappé. With 45 seconds left, at last he found a way through and the solution that PSG had sought all night. Dashing between Lucas Vázquez and Éder Militão he dropped the shoulder and slotted a superb shot into the net to secure a victory that had appeared set to evade them, this place erupting. They had waited all night for this but it had been worth it, and the win had been deserved. It took 22 shots, including a penalty that Messi saw saved by Thibaut Courtois, but they had finally done it. And it had to be him, the man who had started it all ending it too.

The first glimpse of Mbappé came with a smooth, swift turn away from Casemiro inside the opening minute that set the tone. If Casemiro was more successful in the very next minute when he slid in on Messi and swept the ball from the Argentinian’s feet, it would return there often as PSG took a control that was overwhelming at times. Messi was dropping deep, as willing to play the first pass as the last pass; Marco Verratti and Leandro Paredes kept the ball moving; and Ángel Di María was all over the place.

Mbappé prowled the left side, where Dani Carvajal was isolated and from where PSG created the chance that should have given them the lead. Messi spread it wide to Mbappé and his cross was fast, low and accurate – but from the edge of the six-yard box, Di María sent a shot high over the bar. Madrid could find no way out. One dash forward just before the half-hour was virtually the first time they had got into PSG’s half and their first effort on goal, a Militão header, was the last touch of the opening 45 minutes.

The good news for Carlo Ancelotti’s team was that while Mbappé scared them, the threat palpable every time he accelerated,