"He is the best player in the world."Those were the words uttered by Joe Cole about Kylian Mbappe in the BT Sport studio on Tuesday evening after Paris Saint-Germain's 4-1 win away at Barcelona.Mbappe was the star of the show at Camp Nou, scoring a brilliant hat-trick to put PSG in the driving seat to qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals.Barcelona just couldn't live with the Frenchman, with right-back Sergino Dest enduring a torrid evening up against the fleet-footed forward.Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet didn't fare much better, as Mbappe consistently wreaked havoc on Ronald Koeman's back-line.
With both Neymar and Angel Di Maria absent from the PSG team, the poster boy of French football stepped up and delivered his finest Champions League performance to date.In fact, it's one of the greatest individual displays the competition has ever seen and if you think those words are hyperbole, then the below video of Mbappe's individual highlights will change that.
Mbappe's highlights vs Barcelona
Per Squawka, Mbappe had the most shots (6), the most shots on target (4), created the most chances (4), completed the most take-ons (9) and had the most touches in the opposition box (10) of any player on the pitch.
He really is the heir to the throne that's been occupied by both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the last decade.
As well as world-class ability, Mbappe possesses that extra edge needed to dominate at the very highest level and Pochettino shed more light on the Frenchman's elite mentality in his post-match interview.
"Yesterday, at training, he [Mbappe] asked me how many times I had won at the Camp Nou," the Argentine manager said, per GFFN. "Once, I told him. He replied to me: Tomorrow, we are going to win a second time. He is a top player."
Players like Mbappe don't come around often and BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand believes there's no other young player on the Frenchman's level.
"Mbappe is on his own," the Manchester United legend said after PSG's emphatic victory over Barcelona, per Mirror.
"People forget he's 22 years old, given he's won the World Cup, what he's done in French league, in the Champions League he's been immense.
"I just feel he's the guy now who's going to take that throne, take the crown and be there.
"He's standing alone at the moment and it's for everybody to catch up with him."