PUNCH
Lionel Messi arrived in France to a hero’s welcome, seen as the man who would deliver the Champions League for Paris Saint-Germain.
Two years on, the Argentinian is set to depart without having achieved that aim and having only produced his brilliant best in flashes.
It is difficult to qualify Messi’s time at PSG as a success, even if the move to the French capital helped set him up for the crowning glory of his career at last year’s World Cup and did no harm to the Qatar-owned club as a sporting brand.
At his unveiling in Paris in August 2021, Messi said winning the Champions League for the fifth time in his career was his “dream” and that he was in “the ideal place” to do it.
That was seductive talk for PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi, sat next to him, and for fans of the club who were desperate to see their team win European football’s greatest prize for the first time.
The previous season they had lost to Manchester City in the semi-finals, having been beaten by Bayern Munich in the 2020 final. Messi looked like the final piece in the jigsaw.
However, PSG has gone backwards with Messi. They were beaten in the Champions League last 16 by Real Madrid last season with Mauricio Pochettino in charge and suffered the same fate this year at Bayern’s hands with Christophe Galtier on the bench.
There must be a reason why Pep Guardiola did not push to bring an ageing Messi to City, despite his former coach at Barcelona often describing him as the best player of all time.
Guardiola’s side are through to this season’s Champions League final and playing at a level PSG could not currently hope to match, despite having Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar in the same side.
Having to accommodate those three attacking superstars has weakened PSG overall as a team.
Now they must try to build a more balanced side without a player who turns 36 this month and has been costing an estimated annual salary of 30 million euros…
