Lionel Messi plays with his back to the fans of Paris Saint-Germain and facing history: a goal for another record

This time, Lionel Messi he did not hurriedly head towards the locker room when the referee whistled the end in the Princes Parkwhere a part of the fans had been treating him with indifference and the rest dedicated some whistles to him, residual discomfort due to the elimination in the Champions League. The man from Rosario stayed chatting in the center of the field for a long time with his compatriot Facundo Medina, defender of Lens, with whom he had exchanged shirts, after sharing some calls in the selected one.

Before the match they had given each other a big hug in the corridor that connects the changing rooms with the field. “You know what Leo is as a person. I congratulated him and thanked him for the cup.”expressed the former defender of River and Talleres in the mixed zone.

A few minutes before Paris Saint-Germain had achieved a 3-1 before the escort; a triumph that paves his way to obtaining the eleventh Ligue 1, since he took nine points ahead, with seven dates ahead. This Sunday, Olympique, from Marseille, will jump to second place, eight points below, if they beat Troyes.

Messi continues playing with his back to the Parque de los Príncipes, where PSG accumulated two consecutive defeats and had accentuated the symptoms of dissatisfaction with their performance. The detachment between the club and the Rosario had added another factor with the uncertainty about the renewal of his contract, which will expire on June 30, while from Barcelona they send him the pampering that remains in Paris, so that he considers the possibility of a comeback.

Messi strengthened his understanding with Kylian Mbappe. The Frenchman, who had not scored in the three previous matches, returned to the goal by making it 1-0, with a half turn in the area, after an action that had begun. But the best of the night would happen nine minutes later, part of an offensive flurry in which the group of Christophe Galtier scored all three goals.

After 40 minutes, Leo started in three quarters of the field, got rid of Adrien Thomasson with a dribble and made a deep pass to Mbappé, who returned the wall with an excellent cue. Messi defined with a crossed left foot, controlling everything, time and space. Great goal. The 15th from Rosario for Ligue 1 2022/2023. The 30 pointed to Mbappé and went to hug him. They had been partners and accomplices. Not a gesture or a dedication from Messi to the stands, another symptom of a relationship between distant ones.

Messi’s goal consolidated the victory against an opponent who had one less player since 18 minutes into the first half for the expulsion of Salis Samed (Iron on Achraf Hakimi’s tibia). Circumstance that was a break, divided the waters of the party. Leo’s goal also added for his monumental carrera, in which the records are falling with an amazing periodicity.

Match highlights

It was his both Nº 495 by European leagues and Messi reached Cristiano Ronaldo on the pedestal of the top scorers among the five major leagues of the Old Continent. With the Portuguese today in soccer Saudi Arabiathe scoring competition that they held for more than a decade has only Leo at the center of the scene.

The global of 495 of Messi is made up between the 474 in the Spanish league and 21 in the French league. got them on 572 parties, much less than those needed by Cristiano, who established the 495 in 626 games, distributed as follows: 103 in the Premier League, 311 in the Spanish league and 81 in the Italian Serie A.

The victory was made easier for PSG with the premature expulsion due to the recklessness of Samed. Lens had taken the undefeated from the leader in the first roundand in the last month no team in Ligue 1 had scored more goals or conceded less than that of northern France, which had won the last four matches.

Lens is recognized for a collective operation that does not usually characterize PSG, which prevailed with its recipe: the inspiration of its best individuals. It took Lens a while to adjust to the numerical inferiority and he was overwhelmed by the footballing peak of PSG, which in the second half was once again a bland team, too comfortable with the difference of three goals. Lens, improved with a couple of changes, discounted and brought repeated danger with the appearances of the Belgian striker Openda Laws (15 goals, six in the last four dates).

Coach Christophe Galtier He was not satisfied with the second half of the local: “I would have liked my team was more serious in its structure, to maintain the game in the first half, with the right balance and with more offensive intentions. We were content to pass the ball, there were few players between the lines. If it was because of the difference of three goals? I don’t know. We will talk about this relaxation again, I will show it to you because when you have that advantage, you have to keep the same pace, ”he warned.

“Difficult to do an analysis with one less. We did what we could, a great effort. They were very effective. It is difficult to compete with one less,” said Medina, aware that if Messi and Mbappé are among those who have one more, the impotence is greater.