"Lionel Messi did it in UCL" - Fans make an emphatic claim on why Kylian Mbappe's historic 5-goal display for PSG is 'nothing special'

Football fans have played down Kylian Mbappe's incredible five-goal performance for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) by comparing him with teammate Lionel Messi.

Mbappe was on fire for the Parisians in their Coupe de France encounter away to US Pays de Cassel on Monday (January 23) night. The Frenchman scored a first-half hat-trick before adding two more goals after the interval to help his side record a 7-0 thrashing of their sixth-tier opponents.

With his performance, Kylian Mbappe became the first-ever PSG player to score five goals in a game. He notably achieved the feat on a night where he was named the Parisians' skipper.

Despite Mbappe's incredible goal haul against Pays de Cassel, fans on Twitter didn't seem to buy into the hype. One of them compared it to Lionel Messi scoring five times for Barcelona in a UEFA Champions League knockout game against Bayer Leverkusen back in 2012 and wrote:

"Lionel Messi did it in UCL official match! If it’s easy let him [Mbappe] do it against Bayern Munich"

Another tweeted:

"That's nothing special, Mbappe was able to score 5 goals because the opponent he faced was an amateur club in the 6th division of the French league. Meanwhile, Messi was able to score 5 goals when he beat Bayern Leverkusen in the prestigious Champions League"

Here are some more reactions:

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Kylian Mbappe and Neymar Jr. deliver for PSG in Coupe de France Round of 32 with Lionel Messi rested

PSG were favorites by a country mile heading into their Coupe de France Round of 32 encounter against US Pays de Cassel. However, their opponents did well to keep the Parisians, who were without Lionel Messi, from scoring for the opening 29 minutes.

Kylian Mbappe eventually got the ball rolling close to the half-hour mark with a deflected finish. Neymar Jr. added a second in the 33rd minute from Mbappe's assist before the latter scored again two minutes later. The 2018 FIFA World Cup winner then completed his hat-trick in the 40th minute.

Just 11 minutes after half-time, Mbappe was on the mark once again. He finished off Neymar's ball over the top after Pays de Cassel goalkeeper Romain Sanson misread the bounce of the pass. Neymar was in the thick of it all once again in the 64th minute, setting up Carlos Soler for an impudent back-heeled finish.

Kylian Mbappe then put the finishing touches on the game with his fifth goal in the 79th minute. He is now up to 25 goals and six assists in 24 matches across competitions for PSG. Neymar Jr., meanwhile, has recorded 16 goals and 15 assists in the same number of games.

Lionel Messi, who was rested for the match against Pays de Cassel, currently has 13 goals and 14 assists from 21 appearances in all competitions.