Paris march on

News

The key moments
Four days after their attacking spectacle at Nice, the Rouge-et-Bleu were at it again in Belgium. For a first European meeting with Club Brugge, Thomas Tuchel's men certainly put on a show. They started quickly: Thiago Silva found Angel Di Maria on the right, and then it was from one Argentine to another as Mauro Icardi finished off his compatriot's cross at the near-post (0-1, 7').

A few minutes later, Di Maria again caused panic in the hosts' reargard. Sent clear by Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting, the Paris number 11 was only stopped by Simon Mignolet in the home goal (14'). The Belgium international was busy again after the break as he pushed out an Icardi attempt teed up by Marquinhos (51').

Kylian Mbappé's arrival made all the difference. After linking up with Ander Herrera, the Paris number 7 found Di Maria on the left and was then in the right place when Mignolet touched the Argentine's cross into his path (0-2, 61'). The France international then hustled to win the ball back in the hosts' penalty area before finding Icardi, who flicked impudently home (0-3, 63').

The FIFA World Cup winner came close to adding to the scoreline himself (66', 70') as did Di Maria (71') before the pair did manage to get more reward for their efforts. Di Maria sent Mbappé clear to round Mignolet and make it four (0-4, 79') and then repeated the dose shortly afterwards to cap a convincing win (0-5, 83').

A Parisian in the match: Kylian Mbappé
What an entrance! On the bench at kick-off, the Paris forward entered the fray early in the second half when Paris were still under threat, and managed to sweep away any doubts about the result of the game. A hat-trick and an assist was a handy night's work for the Paris number 7, who became the first substitute to score a Champions League hat-trick since Joseba Llorente for Villarreal against Aalborg on 21 October, 2008

The word: Performance !
In addition to Mbappé's first Champions League hat-trick, the capital club and its players closed in on other records. Paris have now won four successive away games in the competition for the first time, and equalled their biggest away win in Europe. Di Maria is the first Paris player to register three assists in the same game since Zlatan Ibrahimovic had four against Dinamo Zagreb on 6 November, 2012.

Coming up
From Belgium to the Classique with the capital club hosting Marseille on Sunday (kick-off 21:00CEST). The league leaders, who are eight points better off than their fourth-placed opponents, will be hoping to extend their 19-match unbeaten streak against OM in all competitions (16 wins), the club's longest ever.