Paris ace Augustin takes aim for title shot
Sunday, April 17, 2016
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Chelsea have been warned: Paris Saint Germain's top scorer Jean-Kévin Augustin was not at his best in the semi-finals but is now ready to deliver in Monday's Nyon decider.
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"Must do better" is Jean-Kévin Augustin's note to self ahead of Paris Saint-Germain's UEFA Youth League final against Chelsea on Monday.
The worry for the defending champions is that Augustin is already Paris's five-goal leading scorer in the 2015/16 competition, having opened his finals account with a 90th-minute clincher against Real Madrid on Friday.
The manner in which the forward – who will also target UEFA European Under-19 Championship glory with France in Germany this summer – turned past Madrid defender Alejandro Salto before unleashing a shot that rocked goalkeeper Luca Zidane back on his heels, underlined his not-inconsiderable potential.
Nonetheless, the 18-year-old insisted to UEFA.com he "could have done better" in the 3-1 semi-final victory as he looked forward to the Nyon tournament's showpiece match. "I wasn't great against Madrid, but I did a lot of running up front and managed to get my goal in the end. I've got five goals now but if I'm scoring that's down to the team. I'm just glad that my goals have helped us get to the final."
Augustin and his team-mates – whose previous best showing had been a quarter-final in 2013/14 – will have done their homework on Chelsea over the weekend under coach François Rodrigues's tutelage.
"We were really happy to get the win against Madrid and to make it to the final," said a player with one Ligue 1 strike under his belt from 11 appearances. "We enjoyed the moment but now it's about getting ready for the final. The coach is going to show us some videos and we'll have a better idea of what to expect after that. We'll have a game plan and we'll do all we can to win."
If Paris do lift the trophy, it will be another special moment for a teenager who as recently as 6 April was on the bench for PSG's UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City.