After almost three weeks of anticipation, Lionel Messi debuted this Sunday at Paris Saint-Germain although we had to wait a few minutes to see him on the court, since the Rosario started from the bench the duel against the local Reims before 22 thousand spectators. It was win 2 to 0 of the Parisians, with a double from Kylian Mbappé, who scored after an assist from Angel Di MarÃa at 16 and Moroccan Achraf Hakimi at 63.
The expected entrance of Messi occurred at 65, when Mauricio Pochettino sent him to the court with the result set instead of the Brazilian Neymar, who also made his presentation in the season after his participation in the Copa América and had a lackluster walk.
With this triumph, PSG returned to the top of the French League reaching 12 points after four rounds, two behind the surprising Angers. The Stade de Reims, meanwhile, a club in which he knew how to excel as a scorer Carlos Bianchi in the ’70s (he also did it at PSG) he added three units in the contest, the product of three draws.
The presentation of Messi did not overflow of “highlights”, who entered with the intention of handling the strings of a team that enjoyed possession of the ball during almost the entire match and had spaces to attack, but was already comfortable with the result. As for the cold numbers, Rosario touched 25 balls, tried 20 passes and hit 19, lost two balls and received three fouls.
The rudeness of the defenders of Reims for the number 30 of PSG it was one of the themes of the game, since they made him feel a certain rigor although nothing to be alarmed.
In any case, the one who stole the flashes was Mbappé with a doublet that may serve as a farewell, before the rumors of his departure to Real Madrid before the close of the European pass market next Tuesday.
PSG achieved a sober victory at the Auguste-Delaune stadium, with the undefeated fence of the Costa Rican Keylor Navas as the most positive data, since he had received five goals in the three previous dates. Of course, this does not mean that the Costa Rican goalkeeper had little work, he may even have wallowed much more than his colleague across the street, the Serbian Pedraj Rajkovic. The most dangerous for Reims was in the second half, when after a rebound from Navas the Zimbabwean Marshall Munetsi put the 1-1 later canceled by the VAR for a double position ahead. In the first half, the Central American also had to fly, although to no avail, after an impressive shot from outside the area by Portuguese Moreto Cassama.
Despite their imposing surnames, the Parisian cast did not stand out against the not at all stellar Reims, who came from being 14th in the last tournament. Rosario had to appear Say Maria to generate the 1-0 play with a precise cross from the left for Mbappé’s header. The left-hander had his best minutes with a changed leg, but in the second half he stopped on the other side, like the scorer and Neymar.
Product of that overpopulation of attackers on the left, the right of the Parisian attack was released for the rises of the ex-Inter Hakimi side: the Moroccan left a furrow in the play of the 2-0, just before the entrance of Messi.
The season is just beginning and Pochettino takes advantage of the start to try variants and find the best eleven in a squad full of stars even before Messi’s arrival. Although it comes from being second in Ligue One behind the champion Lille, the maximum objective of the club of Qatari funds remains the so elusive Champions League.
PSG’s next game will be on Sunday, September 12, at Clermont, and on the 15th it will make its debut in the continental competition, against Bruges in Belgium for the group that also makes up German Leipzig and none other than English Manchester City. . Meanwhile, Messi will be contesting the triple qualifying date (Thursday the 2nd in Venezuela, Sunday the 5th in Brazil and Thursday the 9th against Bolivia at home) with the National Team, the team that has been giving him the most joy in the last half.
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