With a 7-2 victory over Maccabi Haifa, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi each scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain advanced to the Champions League knockout rounds. Neymar also scored to assist Christophe Galtier's team secure a spot in the round of 16 with one game remaining.
A late Carlos Soler goal and an own goal by Sean Goldberg gave PSG a convincing victory at Parc des Princes, where they haven't lost in 90 minutes since being defeated 2-1 by Manchester City in the 2020–21 semifinals.
Maccabi's two headers from Abdoulaye Seck were ineffective, and now that Group H elimination has been assured, their focus is on the race for the Europa League.
A persistent Mbappe gave the ball to Messi in the 19th minute, and Messi skillfully poked the ball past Josh Cohen from 12 yards with the outside of his boot to put PSG ahead.
After the ball ricocheted nicely for Mbappe in a similar position, the France forward doubled the advantage after 13 minutes. Neymar then made it 3-0 by converting Messi's through ball after a devastating counterattack. Seck's header of Omer Atzili's free kick gave the visitors a chance to get one back, but the home team swiftly regained a three-goal lead when Messi stroked in a 20-yard strike.
Five minutes after the break, Seck scored again by looping a header over Gianluigi Donnarumma, becoming the first defender to score twice against PSG since Julian Palmieri did it for Bastia in January 2015. However, the home team quickly regained initiative after Mbappe expertly curled past Cohen from a long cross by Achraf Hakimi, and Neymar's center was turned beyond his own goalkeeper by Goldberg.
The Argentina star's bid for a hat-trick was denied by the crossbar, but six minutes from time, he provided a clever layoff for Soler to cap off a commanding performance.
PSG has successfully completed the first phase after finishing with 11 points out of a possible 15 in Group H, and for the first time in four years, they scored four goals in the first half of a Champions League match. Going into the knockout stages, their porous defense is a cause for concern. They haven't kept a clean sheet during the tournament this season, in fact.
MBAPPE ESTABLISHED HIMSELF
Since making his Champions League debut in September 2016 and including his two assists, Mbappe has been personally involved in more non-penalty goals than any other player (58).
The France attacker also led all players during that time in assists in the top club competition in Europe (22).
MESSI SCORING TWICE
At Parc des Princes, Messi celebrated his 50th PSG game with two goals and two assists as the home team won easily. Since making his Champions League debut during the 2004-2005 season, he has scored 23 goals from outside the penalty area, more than any other player.
The captain of Argentina then became the first player in the top five European leagues to reach double digits in goals and assists (10 and 11, respectively) for the season in all competitions.
NEXT, WHAT?
On Saturday, both teams resume domestic play before wrapping off their Group H campaigns the following week. In the French Ligue 1, PSG welcomes Troyes, and in the Israeli Premier League, Maccabi welcomes Ashdod.
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