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Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain has gone into the top ten of the Champions League’s all-time goalscorers after scoring twice against Barcelona on Tuesday night.
Barcelona appeared on track to go to the semi-finals when Raphinha scored first at Camp Nou, giving them a 4-2 aggregate lead after winning the first leg 3-2 at Parc des Princes six days prior.
However, a red card for Ronald Araujo before the half-hour mark proved costly for the Spanish giants, as PSG went on to score four consecutive goals, advancing to the final four.
Ousmane Dembele equalized against his previous team, before Vitinha tied the aggregate scores 10 minutes into the second half.
Mbappe, who has been heavily linked with a move to Barcelona’s fierce rivals Real Madrid this summer, then took the game away from Xavi’s side with two goals in the final half hour.
The first came from a penalty kick, which he coolly tucked past Marc-Andre ter Stegen following Joao Cancelo’s reckless foul on Dembele inside the area, before the World Cup champion put PSG out of reach in the 89th minute by blasting home from close range after Barcelona failed to clear their lines.
Mbappe’s brace at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys propelled him from 46 to 48 goals in the competition, putting him ahead of Eusebio and Filippo Inzaghi and level with legendary former AC Milan dui Andriy Shevchenko and Zlatana Ibrahimovic.
Shevchenko needed 100 goals to accomplish that total during his stint with Dynamo Kiev, Milan, and Chelsea, whereas Ibrahimovic played 124 games in the tournament while at Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan, PSG, and Manchester United.
Kylian Mbappe: One of Top 10 Champions League Goal Scorers
Mbappe has joined that combination in considerably fewer games, scoring 48 goals in 71 Champions League outings to climb into the top ten all-time scorers.
The 25-year-old will be hoping to climb those ranks even further between now and the conclusion of the season, with Real Madrid star Alfredo Di Stefano only one goal ahead on 49 and Arsenal’s all-time leading scorer Thierry Henry on 50 in the competition.
Kylian Mbappe has 42 goals in 62 games for PSG, including six in nine games for Monaco in the semi-finals.
The forward should have at least two more games to add to his total before departing PSG, with a semi-final against Borussia Dortmund coming after the German side defeated Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night.
