Although Paris Saint-Germain defeated Real Madrid (1-0) in the final minute on Tuesday evening, Lionel Messi was not delirious with euphoria afterwards, he knows. RMC Sports† The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner was once again unable to show his best game and did not share in the revelry that ensued in the dressing room afterwards. According to the French TV channel, teammate and friend Neymar had an eye for this and went to Messi, who was mostly disappointed.
PSG outclassed Real Madrid at home on Tuesday evening and did not give the Spaniards a shot on goal. Messi should have given the Parisians the lead after an hour of play via a penalty, but saw it being tapped from the right corner by Thibaut Courtois. Apart from that moment, Messi also did not play a happy game and was very aware of this immediately afterwards, sketches RMC Sports† The Argentine star has not yet been able to deliver what was expected of him in Paris and is self-critical.
OOOOH.. Lionel Messi! † The Argentinian gets the chance to give PSG the lead, but fails hopelessly from 11 meters.. ??#ZiggoSport #UCL #PSGRMA pic.twitter.com/oUgYzHRTU9
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) February 15, 2022
Where Messi could not excel, Kylian Mbappe took up the gauntlet by making the liberating 1-0 in the final minute in an unparalleled way. Messi was of course happy with that, but reportedly isolated himself from the festivities that ignited in the PSG dressing room. The former Barcelona star was immediately sought out by Neymar, who offered comfort with a listening ear. The Brazilian is known to have great respect for Messi and was overjoyed when the Argentine signed with PSG last summer. It hurts Neymar that his friend is having a hard time in Paris. Perhaps indicative of this was that Neymar, one of the regular free kick takers at PSG, left a free kick against Real to Messi, who aimed a meter off the crossing.
Messi will have already foreseen in the dressing room what the major newspapers in France and Spain would write about him. In particular L’Ëquipe was scathing: “It was his 46th game against Real Madrid, but the Argentinian was by far the worst of his team. He never found the rhythm, the feeling to shoot well. Positioned in the axis he lost a lot of balls, even the easy passes .” The statistics also proved that: no player lost the ball as often as Messi (23 times). Mundo Deportivo came to a similar verdict: “He is far from being a player in his Barcelona time. Messi is always Messi, but against Real he was a lot less Messi.”