Maria Laura Avignolo
08/14/2021 18:15
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 08/14/2021 18:15
Paris St Germain and their fans welcomed Leo Messi on Saturday with the joy and affection of a great family.
With the
Parc de Princes
stadium
full, under a perfect summer day, thousands of supporters occupied the blue and red seats to welcome the best player in the world, with fireworks and an enthusiastic delirium of "Oh lala, Leó, Leó" .
On that stage, at 8 o'clock in the evening, before the match between PSG and Strasbourg, they also presented the other stars in society: the Spanish Sergio Ramos, the Italian giant
Gianluigi Donnarumma
, the Dutch
Georginio Wijnaldum
, and the Moroccan
Achraf Hakimi
, which will turn a millionaire club into a global phenomenon.
Leo Messi entered the platform installed on the playing field last, dressed in white, with the PSG shirt.
Full ovation.
"Leeeeooooo Messssiiiiiii" shouted the tribune.
It was like being in the Bombonera, in a Boca and River.
The fans are excited and happy.
The "Messimanía" in its splendor
.
Messi smiled when the multilingual presenter asked him how he felt.
A crowd filled the Park of the Princes to receive Leo Messi.
Photos: Noel Smart for Clarín.
"Welcome Messi" was read in the stands, between Ultras
flags, Argentine flags
and a solitary Spanish flag in the front row.
It was 8:13 p.m. at night when the best player in the world stepped onto the newly watered grass of PSG.
"It is a special moment for me," said Leo, who thanked PSG for "this magical and incredible reception."
A minute before, his friend Neymar had hugged him, prior to leaving the field of play.
The Brazilian was fundamental for his arrival, convincing him and putting pressure on the PSG executives.
Before, another hug: that of Javier Pastore, a former PSG, which the fans received with ovation at his declarations of love.
The tickets, sold out.
Resale prices reached 4,000 euros.
Photos: Noel Smart for Clarín.
After the Shakespearean tragedy in Barcelona, the tears, the feeling of betrayal of the club where he grew up and wanted to stay,
Messi could not have received a better welcome in Paris
.
He was a true actor of love, a long, restorative hug, a welcome that Paris does not give to everyone.
Blue and colored flags in each seat, fireworks at the entrance of Messi and each of the new PSG acquisitions and especially, the enthusiasm of a maddened stadium.
The challenge to Covid
For a year and a half, the Parc de Prince was a monument to dead football in the city.
The pandemic prohibited matches from being held because of Covid.
Today the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo gave the green light for the stadium to be filled, as in the best of times.
There was no room for a pin.
They not only wanted to see Messi but to meet again with the club of their loves.
Messi would lead them to win the Champions League.
That is the feeling that is in everyone's heart.
But this packed stadium was the biggest challenge to COVID, when in France there are 20,000 daily cases.
Mandatory mask,
health passport in hand
that matches the identity document, ticket and a new security ticket.
The control of entry into the state was rigorous and did not give rise to fraud.
The long lines in front of the doors were armed without social distance because the control was strict.
A security staff, all dressed in black, asked for a health passport and an identity document.
One step later, another, the entrance ticket, which was scanned by a machine so that the turnstile was opened and from there another ticket came out, which finally authorized the entrance.
Then the stewardesses led each one to their armchair.
Perfect organization.
PSG's security budget must be one of the largest in the world
and it works like a symphony orchestra.
Exhaustive control of the entrances to the stadium for fear of attacks and with health care for the coronavirus.
Photos: Noel Smart for Clarín.
“C´est ici Paris” said the new players who joined the club, although they spoke in their own language.
Hakimi did it in Spanish as Ramos, who received a standing ovation.
Leo should learn soon.
And then the surprise.
The stadium whistled for Kylian Mbappé.
The reason was that he has not yet decided to extend his contract with PSG.
The great unknown.
He could go to Real Madrid, which is seducing him.
The fear of their fans is
that the trident Neymar, Messi, Mbappe cannot be realized
when they are on their way to being the best team in the world.
At least in terms of marketing.
Thanks to Messi.
The Argentine flag, present in the Parque de los Príncipes stadium.
Photos: Noel Smart for Clarín.
The Champions, the objective
The presentation ceremony should have been short because television demands it.
The players had to warm up before the game begins at 9 p.m. and a huge platform covered the middle of the playing field.
And like in a Hollywood film, it soon disappeared
.
“This is an unforgettable day.
We have returned to the stadium and we have Messi.
His arrival is very important for the image of the club in front of the world.
PSG will be a global phenomenon
”admits Philippe, who together with his wife Claude, wave a red PSG flag, with the sun in their eyes.
PSG fans are closer than ever to the great obsession: the Champions League.
Photos: Noel Smart for Clarín.
Johan is Dutch, works in Paris and joined PSG.
He had not been on the court for 18 months.
“The arrival of Messi has only one objective: that we win the Champions League.
If we succeed, this club will never forget it, "he said.
Messi settled in the grandstand of the Parc de Prince, in the place where the players who are part of the team but are not starters sit.
On his face, a big smile to start a new stage.
Argentine ambassador Leonardo Costantino was in the official gallery alongside PSG president
Nasser al Khelaifi
, a member of the Qatari royal family and former tennis player. In the stands,
the social contrast
: the Arab and black suburbs between the “ultras”, as the PSG bars are called, the Parisians in the stands, along with those who came from northern France or Marseille to see Messi and the big businessmen, in the luxury lodges, which allow PSG to earn a fortune per year.
Another concept of football, multicultural, multiethnic and with its own television, which interviews in English, French, Spanish, Arabic or Italian.
A Babel, like its own club.
The "food trucks" with foods of different nationalities expose a multiethnic and fabulous society.
Photos: Noel Smart for Clarín.
In the surroundings of the Parc de France, the party and the queues for entry.
The "food trucks" are an example of a global club: vegan sandwiches, Mexican food, French, British beer and water to combat the 30 degrees in the sun.
"For Messi's jersey, you must go directly to the cashier, you cannot try it on," insisted the security of the boutique, a rule required by the anti-covid rules.
A flood of young people, parents with children and children alone were willing to pay 150 euros for a blue shirt, which read the name Leo and the number 30.
The stadium allows 46,000 people inside and today it was celebrating its return.
The Messi phenomenon is going to force them to expand it
.
A new chapter has begun and sadness is behind us.
PSG played their first game of the season with a goal from Mauro Icardi against Strasbourg.
It finished 4-2 for the local, but the party was in the previous one.
Now everyone is waiting for Messi's debut, probably on September 12.
The presentation of Messi in the PSG from the tribune of the Park of the Princes.
Photos: Noel Smart for Clarín.
Look also
Whistles to Mbappé in the presentation of Messi in the Park of the Princes
In Paris there is a party atmosphere and a huge business in the sale of Lionel Messi shirts