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Messi, Neymar and Mbappé, a PlayStation trio challenged to play and win together

2021-08-11T14:04:32.818Z


With the arrival of the Argentine to PSG, the French club crowns an impressive squad that will go in search of the Champions League.


08/11/2021 10:25 AM

  • Clarín.com

  • sports

Updated 08/11/2021 10:25 AM

If Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry played together on the same basketball team, no one would have doubts that they would win their championship without messing up.

If Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were part of a Davis Cup team, it would be difficult for a rival team to force them.

The examples can be extended to other sports, but

when arriving at a soccer changing room, a magical unpredictability will appear that still distinguishes it

.

Paris Saint Germain is playing in a parallel universe.

Scatter bills.

He has a joystick armed with petrodollars

and enjoys the arrogance of circumventing the curious (and flexible?) Financial Fair Play rules that govern UEFA and that were supposedly the cause of Lionel Messi's break with Barcelona.

In its parallel universe, PSG plays as if it were the PlayStation.

Choose the best and more and more of the best.

The end that justifies the means aims to win the Champions League for the first time in its history.

Will it?

While in Barcelona a crane is parked in front of the Camp Nou, raises a mechanical shovel and destroys the image of Messi in a couple of seconds,

in Paris the marquee is extended and a video is shown in which the dressing room makes room for the flag Argentina

, between the 10 of Neymar and the 7 of Mbappé. Messi will be there. But also Di María, Paredes, Verratti, Sergio Ramos, Donnarumma, Keylor Navas, Hakimi, Icardi ...

In the meantime, it is healthy to look in the rear-view mirror.

And note that very little ago and with a roster of abundance, PSG could not be crowned in Ligue 1 and was a Lille escort in the 2020/2021 season.

He stumbled again in the Champions League, eliminated by Manchester City in the semifinals and unable to repeat at least the arrival to the decisive match that in the previous edition he had lost against Bayern Munich.

The lights will arrive, the flashes, the luxurious presentation, the Eiffel Tower, the Park of the Princes with full capacity to greet the “new diamond”.

And speculation about the formation will begin, Mauricio Pochettino will have to fit the best pieces into a puzzle, knowing that the eyes will be on Paris like never before.

If the Qatari joystick stops, the attacking trident will be majestic:

Neymar-Messi-Mbappé

.

And immediately examples of historical societies that marked world football will appear in memory.

Messi signed his contract with PSG together with the club's owner, Qatari tycoon Nasser Al-Khelaïfi.

For Leo and Neymar, the freshest memory will be the famous MSN that they put together with Suárez in the unforgettable Barcelona that won the Champions League for the last time in 2015.

On the sidewalk in front, Real Madrid enjoyed the BBC, Benzema, Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Together they raised the Orejona three times by the hand of Zinedine Zidane.

By rewinding the tape, more iconic cases will appear.

The three Dutchmen who showered Milan with glory:

Rijkaard, Van Basten and Gullit, winners of two Scudettos, two Italian Super Cups, two Champions League, two European Super Cups and two Intercontinental Cups

.

In addition, with the Orange shirt they lifted the 1988 European Championship, the greatest consecration of the national team.

Further back it will be possible to remember Manchester United that united Bobby Charlton, Alexander Busby and Denis Law.

Or the Madrid of Di Stéfano, Gento and Puskas.

Or the Ajax of Johan Cruyff, Johnny Rep and Piet Keizer that shone in the early 70s.

Cases will also flourish in the national teams, from Brazil that started a course of five World Cups with Pelé, Didí and Vavá to the one that joined Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Rivaldo.

Neymar's welcome to Messi.

Photo: Instagram.

How would you form the new PSG?

Keylor Navas;

Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Sergio Ramos, Abdou Diallo;

Leandro Paredes, Marco Verratti;

Ángel Di María;

Lionel Messi, Neymar;

Kylian Mbappé.

In the cat flats, an endless range that includes Georginio Wijnaldum, Mauro Icardi, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Presnel Kimpembe, Idrissa Gueye, Ander Herrera and Julian Draxler.

"There is no comparison," declared Neymar when asked about the attack partners with whom he lived in recent times.

"Messi is the best player I have ever seen and Kylian is on his way to becoming one of the best," he said.

With the PSG jersey,

Neymar and Mbappé played 87 games together, won 65, drew 7 and lost 15

.

The Brazilian has 70 goals and 42 assists;

the Frenchman, 66 shouts and 38 goal passes.

In Catalan soil, friends Leo and Ney shared 161 games, with 120 wins, 19 draws and 22 falls.

Together again: Messi and Neymar.

Photo: Don EMMERT / AFP.

But football is not mathematics.

And all the paraphernalia that surrounds the team must be endorsed when the ball begins to roll.

The bar will be raised like never before.

Every triumph in Ligue1 against Nice, Lorient or Metz will respond to logic, every goal they rehearse among the new galactics will be obvious.

Until the path of the season stops at the riskiest challenges.

There when the Champions League offers hostility and difficulty without regard for surnames, tridents or millions. 

Fortunately, football, beyond the arrogance of petrodollars and club owners who sign contracts on yachts and the open sea,

continues to have a share of unpredictability

.

It does not appear in the rules of the PlayStation, but it will be one more seasoning for this new adventure that moves the world of football.

Look also

Historical: the first image of Messi with the PSG shirt playing in the Parc des Princes

Lionel Messi signed with PSG: the details of a millionaire contract that closes them all

Source: clarin

All news articles on 2021-08-11

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