Kylian Mbappe shares spotlight with Lionel Messi

REIMS, August 30

Lionel Messi made his much-anticipated Ligue 1 debut for Paris St Germain on Sunday but it was Kylian Mbappe who shone as the capital club maintained their perfect start to the season with a 2-0 victory at Stade de Reims.

Mbappe gave PSG a taste of what they would be missing if he left for Real Madrid, who have made bids to recruit the France striker since Messi joined on a two-year deal from Barcelona.

All 20,545 tickets available were sold at the Auguste Delaune stadium to see 34-year-old Messi play and the fans, who chanted the Argentina forward’s name, were rewarded in the 66th minute when he replaced the disappointing Neymar.

Atletico saved by mistake

Madrid: Villarreal had to settle for a 2-2 draw against Atletico Madrid on Sunday after defender Aissa Mandi headed the ball into his own net in the last minute of stoppage time. With no one near him, Mandi tried to pass the ball back into his area but didn’t realise that goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli was out of position. “I’ve been kicking the walls and hitting bottles for the past half-hour in the locker room,” Emery said. — Agencies