Leo Messi It’s unique. Magical. He is 35 years old and continues to make history. It is an astonishment, that fortunately for the French, they can enjoy it live and direct. The best of the best: it is the year of the World Cup. This 2022 closes with the feast of Qatar, nothing less. In a sensational performance -one more, actually-, he scored the fourth and fifth shout, in PSG’s win, without mishaps, as a visitor, over the weak Clermont.
Happy, exultant, actually, with Neymar, his friend, knocking down walls. The first of his personal account, is a billiards, low pass to the net. After a while, a wonder rarely seen in his repertoire. Did you ever do something like that? Like Francescoli, like Ronaldinho. He took the ball in the area, settled it with his chest, turned his back and created a bicycle kick. The ball stuck up, impossible.
The stadium was an amazement, immediately, the whole world was an amazement. As it did? A work of art, one more in an extraordinary trajectory that, now, is reaching its twilight. He ended up on the grass, facing the sky. She got up and yelled at him with all her heart and soul, as if he were so much more.
Thus, the star shone and closed with a double the rout of Paris Saint Germain by 5 to 0 over Clermont, as a visitor, in one of the two games that launched the Ligue 1 of French football this Saturday. messi, what played at a very good level throughout the matchscored his first goal 35 minutes into the second half after leading a counterattack and putting together a good wall in the area with his great partner, the Brazilian Neymar Jr.
And after 41 minutes, after receiving a good deep pass from Leandro Paredes (entered 25 minutes from the end, replacing Vitor Ferreira), he stopped it on his chest and defined a Chilean over the head of goalkeeper Mory Diaw.
The other goals of the Parisian team were from Neymar himself (after an imprecise control by Messi), the Moroccan side Achraf Hakimi and the Brazilian Marquinhos. Paredes is relegated, while there are still rumors of his move to Juventus. Mauro Icardi He was not among those summoned due to personal problems. In PSG, compared to last season, they are no longer Angel Di Maria (he is in Juve) nor the DT Mauricio Pochettinowho was fired.
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A little over three months before the start of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, the Rosario crack started the French tournament in the best way and feeds the illusions of Argentina. PSG, who had just won the French Super Cup with another win, 4-0 against Nantes (one of Messi), and will seek to pay off the debt of the Champions League, on the second day they will host Montpellier.
In the other match played this Saturday for the initial date of Ligue 1, Monaco beat Strasbourg as a visitor by 1-0. This Sunday the date will be completed with: Toulouse-Nice, Montpellier-Troyes, Angers-Nantes, Lille- Auxerre, Lens-Brest, Rennes-Lorient, Marseille-Reims.
The repercussions of the goal
That spectacular Chilean by Messi left locals and strangers completely dazzled, as demonstrated by the statements of his own coach, Christophe Galtier: “It’s just Leo. There is nothing to say, we know what he is capable of”, he stated. “When Messi smiles, the team also smiles”.
But while the play is expected to receive praise from those who are part of his team, less usual is when the praise comes from the victims. Pascal GastianDT of Clermont, was one of those who had no other option than to surrender to the move: “It’s nice to pay to see players like that. Me? I’m lucky. I don’t pay, they pay me to see players like that“, he claimed.
Another unsuspected source for this was the team’s own social channels, which reflected the state of mind of its fans at the time of the goal: “What a goal from Messi! Served in the area by Paredes, the Argentine controls the Chilean’s chest and mark” they stated on Twitter. “Enough for the whole stadium to get up to applaud one of the best players in the world and chant ‘Messi, Messi’”, he concluded.
The newspaper L’Equipe, normally categorical with the performances of Ligue 1 players, also had to give in. On its Sunday front page, the publication headlined “An opening recital”, with the acrobatics of the Flea. In addition, he assured that the association Messi-Neymar is “boiling”.