Football fans were anxiously awaiting Lionel Messi’s first goal in a PSG shirt and on Tuesday, the Argentine finally got his name on the scoresheet for his new club, and what a stunning opening goal it was from the six-time Ballon d’Or winner.
La Pulga made his return in Les Parisiens’ highly-anticipated UEFA Champions League showdown with Man City, having sat out their last two Ligue 1 fixtures due to a knee injury. The 34-year-old once again started alongside Neymar and Kylian Mbappe in Pochettino’s front three in his reunion with former manager Pep Guardiola.
While the French giants enjoyed a lovely first half, entering the break with a 1-0 lead, that advantage came courtesy of an Idrissa Gana Gueye goal as Leo, Neymar, and Mbappe struggling to combine efficiently in the first 45 minutes.
However, that came to an end in the latter stages of the second half, with the Argentine and Frenchman combining for PSG’s second goal. After finding time and space to run at the Man City defenders, Leo managed to cut in from the right wing, and after playing a lovely one-two with Mbappe, the former Barcelona star smashed an unstoppable shot past Ederson to kill off the game.
The celebrations were jubilant, with the Parc des Princes bursting into a roar after the summer marquee signing scored his first goal for the club. After the final whistle, the Argentine was the talk of the town—nothing out of the ordinary for this South American genius—with even Guardiola heaping praise on the diminutive forward.
“The (Messi) goal was fantastic,” Guardiola said, as per the Daily Mail. ‘We know it’s impossible to control Leo during the whole 90 minutes but he was not much in touch with the ball.
“We know quite well when he can run and get close to the box he is unstoppable. We knew it already, we spoke about that, we cannot control them for 90 minutes, these huge talents.
“The only options I know is to defend deep for 90 minutes deep and pray or to take the ball and try to play your game. We played our game. Our attackers could be more aggressive and say, ‘oh, I can score – I have this quality..’ This is what they have to do in the future.”
Speaking after the game, Leo stressed the importance of the three points, not his goal, but he was admittedly happy to bring an end to his goal drought. Additionally, the Argentine asked for more patience as he continues to work on his chemistry with his new attacking partners.
“I hadn’t been able to play recently and this was only my second game in this stadium,’ Messi said. ‘I’m adapting to my new team. The more we forwards play together the better our relationship will be. We all need to grow together and improve and keep giving our best.
“City were great opponents. It was very important for us to win the match after our draw against Brugge. I’m very happy to have scored.”
With that result, Pochettino’s men have moved top of the table in their UEFA Champions League group thanks to their superior goal difference over Club Brugge. Man City, on the other hand, have dropped to third and will need to bounce back this weekend when they take on Liverpool in the Premier League.
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