'Reminds me of Henry' – How ‘devastating, wonderful’ Kylian Mbappe dumped Manchester City out of UEFA Champions League

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TNT Sports expert Joleon Lescott compared Kylian Mbappe to Thierry Henry after the Frenchman netted a hat-trick to kill off Manchester City in the second leg of Real Madrid's play-off knockout round in the UEFA Champions League. Mbappe notched a goal in the first leg at the Etihad Stadium, and now has seven goals in Europe's top competition to date as Madrid surged into a 6-2 aggregate lead.

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TNT Sports expert Joleon Lescott said that Kylian Mbappe "reminds me of Thierry Henry" after the Real Madrid forward scored a stunning hat-trick as the UEFA Champions League holders dumped Manchester City out of the competition.

The Frenchman netted his fifth, sixth, and seventh goals in 10 matches in Europe's premier competition this season in a true showing of elite marksmanship at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The hat-trick supplemented the strike he contributed in the first leg of the play-off knockout round at the Etihad Stadium, which Madrid won 3-2 thanks to an injury-time winner from Jude Bellingham.

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Mbappe was on fire against a subpar City defence, bringing himself to 30 goal contributions in his debut season in the famous white shirt.

His first goal was a looping effort over the head of Ederson inside four minutes. before he doubled his tally by sitting down Josko Gvardiol and slotting home for 2-0 on the night.

He had his hat-trick - his second as a Real Madrid player - a minute after the hour mark, sliding a left-footed effort into the far corner beyond Ederson's grasp.

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"What more does this man have to do?" said TNT Sports' Steve McManaman of the second goal on co-commentary duty.

"All about Mbappe. The audacity, in the penalty area, on a night like this."

"He absolutely laid the defender down on the floor," Rio Ferdinand added. "Sit down there, watch me slot this home. Devastating, wonderful from Mbappe. Lie down."

In the TNT Sports studio at half-time, Lescott and Ferdinand could not contain their amazement at Mbappe's star showing, with Lescott dropping a particularly lofty comparison.

"As soon as Mbappe got into that position, with the level of calmness and composure he showed, [it was] the first time I’ve looked at him and he’s reminded me of Thierry Henry," Lescott said. "The way he’s playing with so much elegance and smoothness. It’s enjoyable to watch."

Mbappe 'running riot' as he sits down Gvardiol to double Real lead

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The Frenchman, who tallied the 21st hat-trick of his career, also demonstrated his frightening turn of pace numerous times, with both Lescott and Ferdinand full of admiration for the forward.

"Pace is one of his superpowers," Ferdinand said.

"You don’t want to get into a race with someone of Mbappe’s level," Lescott added. "Regardless of how well he’s playing, if someone is that fast, what you don’t want to do is create space for him."

In his post-match interview with TNT Sports, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti called Mbappe "fantastic".

"He’s a fantastic player," the Italian said.

"We have a lot of quality in the front with Mbappe, Vinicius, Rodrygo, Bellingham. When they connect together, we are really dangerous. That happened in these two games. He had a lot of opportunities against a really good team."

‘Now he is flying’ - Bellingham delighted with Mbappe form

Speaking to TNT Sports, Real Madrid and England midfielder Jude Bellingham praised his French team-mate for his match-winning contribution.

He said: "It is brilliant playing with him. You go into games knowing you can give him the ball, and he is going to affect things. Our job behind him and the rest of the front three is to try and get them into the best positions possible and I myself try and get in the box too.

"You know when Kylian gets the ball in the areas he likes on the pitch, he is going to be dangerous. Left foot or right foot. He scored a few different types of goals today."

Mbappe received criticism for his early form in Spain, but Bellingham celebrated his improvement in recent months.

He added: "It is incredible what he has done in his career. I know he had a slow start here and took time getting used to life here. Now he is flying and it's so good to see."

In the TNT Sports UEFA Champions League Highlights studio, Owen Hargreaves said that in his current form, Mbappe was "a problem for anyone".

"The first [goal] is amazing," Hargreaves said.

"You can’t give Mbappe that space. Mbappe’s confidence goes up. [For the second] once Mbappe gets into that position, that is naughty, that [to sit Gvardiol down]. To take that little decision there and to do that to Gvardiol shows the confidence that he has that he didn’t have at the start of the season. He’s a special player.

"Mbappe in that form is a problem for anyone."

TNT Sports will show over 500 matches from the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Conference League across the 2024-25 season. The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+

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