After Bayern Munich – PSG (2-0) – Lionel Messi, from delusions of grandeur to casting error

By signing for PSG, Lionel Messi faced a stimulating challenge: to try to win the Champions League outside Barcelona to imitate Cristiano Ronaldo, capable of lifting the trophy in Manchester and then Madrid. Two years later, and while his future in Paris has never seemed so uncertain, his record, given his past in competition, is absolutely poor. Two eliminations in the round of 16 and, above all, the feeling of never having influenced events. What will we remember from his 360 minutes against Real and then against Bayern? A missed penalty against Thibaut Courtois which left Madrid hoping.

For the rest, nothing, nothingness. Messi suffered against midfielders who physically devoured him. If in the first leg this year, he had completely disappeared from the debates, he existed in Munich (73 balls touched) but did not resist the pressure inflicted by his opponents. Kimmich and Goretzka, the two-headed monster from the Bavarian midfield, made him look like an altar boy unable to resist the slightest blow from the shoulder. On Wednesday, he may have said goodbye as a non-grade to a competition which, however, made him a king.

A top corner against City and that’s it

But, basically, his loss of influence in C1 does not date from March 8, 2023. What will we remember from Lionel Messi in the Champions League in the Parisian jersey? A shot in the skylight during a group match, where he was also average, in the group stage against Manchester City. And that’s about it. Zooming out, and looking back to his last years, his influence in C1 is in freefall. There are a few brilliant strokes: a round of 16 return against Chelsea in 2018, two others against Naples in 2020 and Lyon a year earlier, a semi-final first leg against Liverpool the same year.

But if he has never reached a final since his last coronation in 2015, it is also because he has been regularly unable, like Wednesday, to sound the charge when his team took a nosedive. Overall, since his signature, Paris has been able to count on Messi when his eleven largely dominated the debates. On the other hand, at the slightest annoyance, as soon as he found himself facing an opponent who returned to him in the buffet, Messi generally disappeared in the game even if he was sometimes able to survive by lightning. And in those specific cases where he can no longer save his club’s butt, his lack of activity at the loss of the ball becomes a problem and adds to the feeling of helplessness.

Rebuild or extend it, you will have to choose

The question, which may seem incongruous for a player of this talent, is now whether he can still pull his team out of a trap in C1. In Paris, in any case, the answer seems obvious. If the World Cup showed that one of the very best players in history still had some under the hood, the transplant in Paris never took. After a year and a half, the conclusion is clear: Paris made a mistake in recruiting him since not only did Messi not advance the team but his presence weakened the Parisian game plan. Apart from the months leading up to the World Cup, the world champion has never been worthy of what PSG legitimately expected of him. Its extension, which will only take place if both parties agree, must be questioned, especially at 41 million euros per year.

Rebuild or extend it, it will be necessary to choose. In front, the trio Neymar, Mbappé and Messi unbalance the team on the ground and in the accounts. To reshape this wobbly workforce, it will be necessary to part with at least one of the three stars. The Argentinian is the most natural candidate at the start while the Brazilian is under contract until 2027 and unsaleable today, and the Frenchman, the essential figurehead of the project. By confusing notoriety and sporting ambitions, Paris still wants to cling to its sevenfold Ballon d’Or. If Messi wants to get Ronaldo’s record of goals in C1 (he points to 11 goals), the defeat against Bayern could rush things and make offers from Miami and Saudi Arabia even more attractive. That’s all the bad we want in Paris.