In the end, Napoli had to settle for a point against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday
Though they may have been disappointed to leave the Parc des Princes after conceding to Angel Di Maria’s last-gasp equaliser, Carlo Ancelotti’s men did at least succeed in keeping Kylian Mbappe relatively quiet for the duration of the game.
Kalidou Koulibaly played his part in stifling the 19-year-old’s threat for much of the evening, but as one piece of footage highlights, had to force one of his teammates to give him a bit of extra help…
With the score 1-1 at the time, Mbappe can be seen picking the ball up on the PSG right wing. Koulibaly and Mario Rui double up, but Mbappe checks back inside on to his left foot. Sensing that his teammate is affording the French international too much space, Koulibaly responds by desperately shoving Rui towards Mbappe.
Hilarious, but given that PSG’s attack was soon snuffed out, his unconventional attempt to thwart the young attacker proved effective.
"No! I've had enough, you defend him!"
The struggle is real when Kylian Mbappé is facing you with a ball at his feet 😫 pic.twitter.com/qN2YUAWe1k
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 25, 2018
Napoli had taken a half-time lead through Lorenzo Insigne’s well-taken finish. An own-goal from Rui levelled the scores, only for Dries Mertens to restore the Italian side’s lead soon after. It remained 2-1 to Napoli until stoppage time, when Di Maria’s curling effort drew the home side level.
In the same group, Liverpool recorded a 4-0 victory at home to Red Star Belgrade – enough for them to end the night in first. Napoli are now in second, the late equaliser keeping PSG in sight ahead of the return game in Naples in two weeks.
