‘Really quiet over both legs’

TNT Sports pundit Rio Ferdinand believes Kylian Mbappe needs to be more “clinical” in the big moments, after an “unusual” performance in Paris Saint-Germain’s UEFA Champions League defeat to Borussia Dortmund.

The forward had five shots, three of them on target, but failed to hit the back of the net in a 1-0 defeat in the second leg of their last-four tie.

It means his side missed out on booking their place in the final at Wembley after a 2-0 aggregate loss.

The game could therefore be Mbappe’s final one in Europe for PSG, as he is expected to leave the club this summer.

And Ferdinand says it was a strange display from the France international.

“This is unusual for Kylian Mbappe,” he told TNT Sports. “This is a guy that we’re accustomed to seeing at the biggest moments, the biggest stage. When it’s all on the line, he steps up.

“World Cup finals, big moments for PSG, all through his career he seems to have stepped up to the plate at them moments.

“Over the two legs here, I thought he was very subdued. He wasn’t decisive. He wasn’t clinical. He didn’t manage to free up himself to get into really good positions.”

Fellow TNT Sports pundit Owen Hargreaves argued “I thought Dortmund took away from him”, as he praised the visiting defenders, adding: “I don’t think there was any space for him to work.”

But Ferdinand insist PSG’s star man had more than enough opportunities to grab his side a goal that would have completely changed the complexion of the tie.

“I thought that their finishing was probably their biggest let down for them, over the two legs,” he continued. “They had some decent chances over the two games. They weren’t clinical enough.

“I thought he was really quiet over both legs, but Dortmund played him really, really well.

“You have to give them massive credit for what they’ve done. They didn’t allow him to get anyone one v one. When he did get one v one, other players got back in and made it twos or threes v one.

“But sometimes, in those games, those big players find something, where they get into a space and the ball just falls to them.

“That chance at the end, the volley. That’s a chance for him to really be clinical and to put that away and give them a chance to get back into the game.

“But listen, I think more credit goes to the team in yellow, Dortmund. I thought they were magnificent.

“The manager deserves huge credit. He’s got two wide players playing almost like full-backs, running back, but also being a threat the other way as well.

“The two centre-backs I thought were magnificent. You can’t do that without 11 players being what they were today, and that was top class.”

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