The curtain may have come down on Monaco's hugely entertaining Champions League run but striker Kylian Mbappe has left nobody in any doubt about his status as Europe's new major talent.
The 18-year-old striker scored in the second half of Monaco's 2-1 defeat by Juventus in Tuesday's semi-final which, by that point, was no more than a consolation. The Italian side advanced into the final with a 4-1 aggregate triumph.
But it was the first goal Juve had conceded in Europe's elite club competition since November 22 and it made Mbappe the youngest player in Champions League history to score in the semi-final of the tournament.Â
The Monaco forward was not even born when Gianluigi Buffon, the Juventus goalkeeper, was named in Italy's squad for the 1998 World Cup in France.Â
And for Mbappe, that is one of a number of stats he can reflect on with pride when he takes stock of Monaco's run to the last four.
His tally of five Champions League goals means Raul has only scored more goals in the competition before his 19th birthday, with six.Â
Mbappe turns 19 in December, so there will very likely be an opportunity for him to break that.Â
He is also the second fastest French player to score six Champions League goals. Mbappe took nine games, where as Thierry Henry needed only five.
Overall this season, Mbappe has 25 goals in 41 appearances for Monaco, who are first in Ligue 1 with a game in hand on second place Paris Saint-Germain.
And whatever happens between now and the end of the season, Mbappe is almost certainly going to be the subject of a bidding war this summer.
Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and Arsenal have been linked with moves for the £85million-rated striker.Â
Credit: Daily Mail