Manchester United's battle with Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League will be headlined by two of the finest young players in Europe who represent the future of football; Kylian Mbappe and Marcus Rashford.
The 20-year-old Mbappe and 21-year-old Rashford have become the focal points for two of the biggest clubs in the competition, outshining even their high-profile teammates including Neymar, Edinson Cavani, Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku.
With arguably the two most talented young strikers in world football going head-to-head over two legs, LiveScore analyses the performances of the pair this season and how they might impact the massive Round of 16 tie.
Kylian Mbappe
With an absurd 25 goals from 30 games across all competitions, Kylian Mbappe's legend continues to grow. After a 2018 that saw the Frenchman help PSG to the Ligue 1 title, lead France to World Cup glory and win the inaugural Kopa trophy as the best young player in the world, you would have forgiven Mbappe for regressing slightly. But that has not been the case.
In 27 league games last season Mbappe notched 13 goals and 8 assists. This season in just 17 games he has 18 goals and 6 assists, with an astonishing 75% of his shots on target. That means Mbappe is contributing nearly 1.5 goals per game and scoring himself once every 73 minutes. He has also increased his key passes per game from 1.8 to 2.3. The development is staggering, despite playing alongside ball dominant players including the aforementioned Neymar and Cavani and Angel Di Maria.
Mbappe is yet to play at Old Trafford, but the Theatre of Dreams will not daunt the youngster as he showed when scoring in his first appearance at Anfield during a 3-2 loss to Liverpool. With Cavani and Neymar both out injured, the 20-year-old may get the chance to play as the lone striker, a role he has not played since his days at Monaco. He could pose a huge threat in the position against a suspect Manchester United defence.
Former manager Jose Mourinho identified the centre back position as the greatest area of need and made several attempts to sign Tottenham's Toby Alderweireld and Leicester's Harry Maguire because of his distrust in their current options of Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof. Jones and Lindelof in particular have been vastly improved under new manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and the club chose not to bring in any reinforcements in the January transfer window, but many are still unconvinced by the pair and Mbappe could reap havoc with his pace.
PSG will likely set up to play on the counter attack after missing so many of their first choice options, which will make Mbappe's role even more important. His combination with Marco Verratti and di Maria will be crucial, particularly if they can get him early, quick ball so he can isolate defenders and use his speed and dribbling ability to attack David de Gea's goal.
The weight on his 20-year-old shoulders will be immense, but his performance will likely decide whether Paris can go into their home leg with any kind of advantage.
Marcus Rashford
Rashford, like Mbappe, has built on a promising 2018 campaign that also saw him experience a deep run in the World Cup as England lost in the semi-finals to Croatia. Rashford burst onto the scene under Louis van Gaal in 2016, scoring on debut for Manchester United in the Europa League, scoring on his Premier League debut against Arsenal and scoring in his Champions League debut the following season.
His career slightly stalled under Jose Mourinho, a manager infamous for his lack of trust in youth players, making 17 starts and 18 substitute appearances in the 2017/18 Premier League season. The 21-year-old managed 7 goals and 5 assists last season, but has bettered both those marks with 9 goals and 6 assists in 22 Premier League appearances this season, including 6 goals in 9 games under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Like Mbappe, Rashford's game is built on his speed, dribbling skills and natural finishing ability. Both showed from very young ages they were born strikers, finding the net in a various of different ways from different angles and with both feet. While Mbappe usually plays as the wide forward, Rashford is now United's first choice central striker, and his influence has increased as a result. His familiarity with the role could give him an edge over Mbappe as far as their head-to-head battle goes.
PSG are far more settled at the back than Manchester United and offer a much more daunting task for Rashford to overcome than Mbappe, with Brazilian legend Thiago Silva and French rising star Presnel Kimpembe patrolling the centre of the defence. Both are incredible athletes blessed with strength, power and speed, and will be able to at least keep in the same post code as Rashford, while Jones and Lindelof will have a much more difficult task sticking with Mbappe.
Where Rashford can hurt the French champions is with his fluent movement. Under Mourinho Rashford was being deployed in a wide position, so he is more than comfortable floating into different areas to receive the ball, provide width and move around the defence. Expect him to switch repeatedly with either Alexis Sanchez or Anthony Martial, depending on who is given the left wing role, and Jesse Lingard who will likely be played wide right. If Rashford and the other members of United's front three can keep moving Silva and Kimpembe out of position and attack the absence of Thomas Meunier, it could go a long way to handing Manchester United an advantage as they head to Park des Princes for the second leg.
Regardless of the result, it appears both Kylian Mbappe and Marcus Rashford will be facing off in Champions League and potentially World Cup matches for years to come.
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