Mbappe perfect on Real's night

Frenchman's treble in 3-1 win helps defending champions eliminate Man City

- Dhiman Sarkar

KOLKATA: Kylian Mbappe's hat-trick against Manchester City encapsulated what makes him such a force of nature: speed, spatial awareness and skill. The first goal came from the centre, the second from the left and the third from the right. The first two goals came from the right foot, the last from his left. Seamlessly switching places with Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo, Mbappe roamed the front third like he was ruling it.

He was too fast for Nathan Ake, too good for Josko Gvardiol, too strong for John Stones and too slippery for Ruben Dias. If the opening goal felt like a sucker punch, the next two sucked out whatever fight City may have had. Mbappe now has three Champions League hat-tricks, two of them in knockouts like Lionel Messi, Karim Benzema and Robert Lewandowski. Will this be the season when he wins it for the first time?

After the 1-3 defeat that knocked them out 3-6 on aggregate in this playoff, Pep Guardiola accepted that City were not at the level of the side that had played two Champions League finals, winning one.