Ousmane Dembele and Vitinha scored PSG's goals in a 3-2 defeat at the Parc des Princes which leaves them with work to do to rescue the tie in next week's second leg. They will surely need Mbappe to be at his best in that game on Tuesday at Montjuic if they are to reach the semi-finals for what would be just the third time in 13 years since the transformative Qatari takeover of the club.
"I don't speak about individual players after a game, especially after a defeat," insisted Paris coach Luis Enrique, refusing to criticise his star forward's performance. "I speak about the team, about my work. There are a lot of things to improve. "The coach is of course the number one person responsible and I accept it that way."
Scorer of 39 goals for his club this season, Mbappe was described as "invisible" against Barcelona by newspaper Le Parisien, which pointed out that he managed just three attempts on goal during the game, none of which troubled Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen. In searching for reasons why PSG lost and why Mbappe struggled, the finger could be pointed at the tactics chosen by Luis Enrique.
His decision to select Marco Asensio in the starting line-up did not pay off, and the Ligue 1 side were much improved after the Spaniard was replaced by Bradley Barcola at half-time. That move saw Dembele switch from the right wing to a position much closer to Mbappe, and both Dembele and Barcola hit the woodwork in the second half.
Luis Enrique's handling of Mbappe in recent weeks is also up for debate, given that the 25-year-old has only completed 90 minutes in one of PSG's seven league games since he informed the club of his plans to leave at the end of the campaign when his contract expires. Was Mbappe not sharp
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