Sports
Mbappe scores hat-trick against Olympiacos
Kylian Mbappe scored a seven-minute hat-trick to put Real Madrid in command in their Champions League tie with Olympiacos.
Kylian Mbappe scored a seven-minute hat-trick to put Real Madrid in command against Olympiacos after they had stunningly fallen behind in Greece.
Held to a 2-2 draw by Elche at the weekend, Madrid’s XI for the clash in Piraeus featured a host of changes, with Jude Bellingham among those to drop to the bench.
Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Trent Alexander-Arnold were all included in the side, the latter the subject of increasing criticism in the wake of the draw with Elche.
Yet they fell behind in the eighth minute to a wondrous strike from Chiquinho.
The Portuguese midfielder surged towards the edge of the box and, following neat link-up play with Daniel Podence and Ayoub El Kaabi, lashed a vicious right-footed strike beyond Andriy Lunin and into the bottom-right corner.
Mbappe answers in style
While questions may be asked of the Madrid defence, there is no doubting the unbelievable quality they have in attack, which was encapsulated in the 22nd minute as Vinicius found an onrushing Mbappe with a stunning long pass from the left sideline, enabling the France star to fire under Konstantinos Tzolakis.
Mbappe then made it 2-1 by powering a header home from Arda Guler’s pinpoint cross, and his treble was completed as he controlled Eduardo Camavinga’s lofted pass beautifully before rolling the ball into the bottom-right corner.
Vinicius looked to have made it 4-1, only for his effort to be ruled out by VAR, with Mbappe ruled to have strayed offside before teeing up the Brazilian.
Aurelien Tchouameni then hit the bar for Madrid as they ended a first half that started dreadfully in complete command and on course for a fourth win from five Champions League games this season. Barring a remarkable second-half collapse, Madrid will claim their first away win over Olympiacos at the fifth time of asking.
