Record-breaking Mbappe determined to carry PSG past Bayern

Paris Saint-Germain’s French forward Kylian Mbappe celebrates after he scored a goal during the French L1 football match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and FC Nantes at The Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris on March 4, 2023. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)

Kylian Mbappe heads to Munich fresh from a record-breaking weekend with Paris Saint-Germain and is determined to lead the French giants past Bayern and into the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

PSG trail 1-0 from the first leg of the heavyweight last-16 tie, after injury reduced Mbappe to a cameo appearance off the bench in that match last month.

Yet the 24-year-old France superstar did enough in his short time on the pitch then -– including having a goal disallowed for a marginal offside — to make it clear that he can swing the tie the Parisians’ way.

Since that game, the Ligue 1 leaders have recovered from a worrying slump in form to claim three straight domestic wins, scoring 11 goals in the process.

Mbappe has netted five of them, including one in Saturday’s 4-2 win over Nantes that saw him overtake Edinson Cavani and become PSG’s all-time top scorer, five and a half years after signing from Monaco in 2017.

The player who in December became the first to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final since Geoff Hurst in 1966, boasts the remarkable record of 201 goals from 247 games in a PSG shirt.

– ‘Leave a mark’ – “Every player plays to leave a mark and so that his name goes down in football history, to not be forgotten. I think with this record that people will remember me here,” Mbappe said after being awarded a trophy by PSG in a lavish on-field presentation before an adoring crowd.

Mbappe has 30 goals in 30 games for his club this season and has a strong claim to be