Maria Laura Avignolo
09/15/2021 11:07 PM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 09/15/2021 11:07 PM
A family stadium, pure football and with the smell and enthusiasm of paddock ball in front of the luxury of PSG in the medieval city of
Bruges
for the debut of the best player in the world.
The
Jan Brey
, as legendary as the leading name of a Flemish hero, was the framework for Leo Messi played his first 90 minutes in the Paris St Germain, his new club against Brugge, a heroic club.
A new chapter for Messi and for PSG, who with his billionaire team, which begins to work harmony to be one of the favorite candidates to win the Champions League in 2022 on May 28 in Saint Petersburg.
The new Messi
A new Messi, who cries with sadness and happiness, with his Argentine roots stronger than ever and an emotional bond with his country and with his fans, who idolize him after the Copa América.
The
Messi-mania
wraps in France, who loves him unconditionally.
A standing ovation received him from all four sides of the stadium in Bruges. Messi is more than PSG: he is a sociological phenomenon of football, a
gentleman
of the ball, the king of dribbling and high speed, with an unthinkable and elusive dribble. The fear of the defense and the archers, and at the same time, the pride of having faced and endured him for impossible 90 minutes.
His white and pink shirt contrasted with his number 30
, which takes him away from his historic 10, of his 20 years at
Barsa
, his home, which he left with the pain of those who fire his parents when they go to travel the world . A path that he started late, when many are already retiring and that began in the Catalan city when he was only 13 years old.
A whole life in the same place, with the same codes to feel the restlessness of a new chapter
, a new language but with his great friends in the Parisian team.
Antonella and the boys
did not come to the romantic Bruges.
They stayed at the Hotel Royal Monceau because they continue to search for the family home near Paris.
The family does not want their movements to be published, less that of the boys.
The strict privacy law and the "attack alert" in France protect them in their claims and they are fair.
The first match of the Champions
Messi against Bruges.
(Xinhua)
Bruges-PSG.
A match that marks the start of the Champions League season, which all of Europe awaits.
PSG is part of group A, that of death in the classification.
He will not be able to escape Manchester City and Leipzig, his nightmare.
But in this game in Bruges,
with a 1-to-1 game that drove
Brugges
fans crazy to
delirium and they celebrated their first point at a big stadium party, PSG had big names left over but lacked team spirit.
Mauricio Pochettino, the Argentine coach of PSG finally gave in.
Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Brazilian Neymar were part of the golden trident
that the planet was waiting for, aligned together.
He chose to save the 4-3-3 with Herrera and Wijnaldum surrounding Paredes and in between games.
Angel Di María is suspended and Sergio Ramos was not ready for his injuries yet.
Marco Verrati has a contusion on his left knee after a match with the Italian team and was not from the game.
But PSG have 35 players to choose from and brought 22 to Brugge.
But the trident was out of tune. They looked at each other, they tried to harmonize but they failed to be a symphony orchestra.
Mauricio Pochettino is not afraid of self-criticism. “I saw a lot of good things.
They need time to consolidate.
I think players need not only more training but more competition to really get to know each other more
.
But I think they have found each other.
The problem that today was not there.
But we were not as solid as we should have been in a Champions League match, ”Pochettino explained at the press conference after the match.
Messi played, ran, was about to score a goal three times, made a foul and got a yellow card.
But the DT is happy with his performance.
“First of all, to highlight Messi's game, it is first positive.
I am happy with his performance
, which combines will, attitude and also his adaptation, ”the coach replied after the game to
Clarín
, at the press conference.
"It is clear that both he and the entire group of players who came here were not happy because the goal is to win while at a club like PSG. Our goal is to train and play well. Today we have lacked to win and play a little better. ”, He reflected in his self-criticism.
Brugges the heroic
Neymar and Messi, they were not fine.
(AFP)
Brugges played home, with the stadium in his favor, and an enthusiasm that grew as he maintained the tie and the constant pressing on the Parisian galactics.
Brugges was champion of Belgium four times in the last six years and between 2020 and 2021 he leads the Jupiter League.
Marquinhos had his Belgian nightmare: Noa Lang marked him non-stop and became one of his main dangers.
Lang was the top scorer of the season at his club at just 22 years old.
The big surprise lasted until Wednesday night: the Costa Rican Keylor Navas or the Italian giant Donnarumma in the goal.
Pochettino chose Navas just as the Italian had been against Reims.
But since they signed the DT he warned them that the rule would be competition between them.
Navas did not disappoint him.
With his phosphorescent green team he ratified the decision of his technical director because he saved the team in each
Brugges
offensive
with spectacular saves.
With his unmistakable orange gloves he was one of the great figures of the night.
Messi in Bruges.
(AP Photo / Olivier Matthys)
"We have two goalkeepers and unfortunately there is only one who can play," said Pochettino.
But the Italian Donnarumma trained in the middle of the field, although the Costa Rican started.
The stadium was packed.
The 30,000 gray seats were filled with Belgians.
Flemings, Germans, Dutch and 1500 Parisian ultras, who did not stop encouraging PSG.
The huge blue, red and white PSG flags displayed.
The team went to greet them in their tribute during the warm-up and exercised in front of them as they celebrated with their African drums.
The locals responded with passion.
They felt in a global window, beyond any result. The stadium heated up with the chants as night came.
A great tribute to Mbappé and Messi.
"Show Time"
.
Warm up for fans.
With gray jerseys, PSG entered the field of play, the electric blue ones were from Brugges.
In Europe, teams warm up on the field of play to excite an audience without Argentine passion.
In this small city of Bruges of 120,000 people with its suburbs, the police security was as enormous as the enthusiasm. A major festival for one of the most beautiful and medieval cities in Europe but that could not be faulty.
PSG, how to be a team
Messi with the ball.
(AP Photo / Olivier Matthys)
PSG, a billionaire team, had a huge challenge: to be a team, in harmony and complicity during the 90 minutes.
Neymar lost the rest of the kilos from his vacations and his belly.
After injuries and suspensions, everyone expected him to join the trident.
Messi, Ney and Mbappé looked for each other but did not find among them the strength and complicity to reach the goal.
Mbappé, who was whistled in Reims and in Parc de Prince, already produces the joy of the fans: he stays, at least for one more year, because PSG ignored the siren songs and the offers of Real Madrid.
But Mbappé came out 10 minutes into the second half injured in the ankles
.
Tomorrow it will be known how far his injury reached and Mauro Icardi entered in his replacement.
The stadium was filled with a bang.
There was no room for a pin.
Full ovation.
Messi dressed in white and pink.
Neymar and Leo hugged each other before starting the game.
La Pulga on the right and Ney on the left.
There began to be a rite in the passes of the Parisians.
It was 9:10 p.m.
Messi falls on the grass in the duel against Bruges.
(AP Photo / Olivier Matthys)
The stadium encouraged Bruges as in La Bombonera.
Red
But the referee gave Paredes a yellow card after a brutal tackle.
The PSG defense was disorganized.
The Brugges players did not leave room for Neymar to deploy.
The stadium was ablaze with enthusiasm.
At 9.15 the scoreboard was opened.
PSG 1 - Brugges 0
.
Ander Herrera again, the fourth goal since the season began.
The devil of PSG.
But Brugges chose pressing.
He annulled Mbappe, Neymar, he locked them.
Despite the effort and perseverance of Leo Messi, the trident is still a very expensive dream.
Brugges tied PSG with a goal from
Vanaken
and Navas could not stop him. Two minutes after Bruegge's goal,
Messi fired a shot that went over the crossbar
.
He missed one of his three scoring chances.
The bar of the ultras accompany you and live it.
PSG sought to react, with the will of Messi.
But Brugges defended with conviction and as a team.
Navas saved a shot from Vanaken, which was almost a goal again.
Hans Vanaken, captain of Bruges, greets Leo Messi.
(AP Photo / Olivier Matthys)
People screamed offside.
But Navas stopped another tremendous ball.
The Parisian defense trembled at each Brugges offensive.
"Ole, ole, Ole"
shouted the rostrum. Brugges fans applauded their team standing in the first half.
PSG was saved by Mbappé's dribbling against a team that pressed and filled all the spaces.
In the second half, Mbappé was replaced by Icardi because he was injured.
Neymar did not achieve his level.
Messi raised the pressure and fired a ball from 30 meters.
At Brugges, the intelligent offense of Kamal Sowah and the speed and tactical intelligence of Charles de Ketelaere stood out.
PSG could not consolidate as a team and that was their main fault throughout the 90 minutes.
When everyone thought they would be the eventual losers of the match, Brugges became a moral winner to the joy of his fans.
They never stopped creating dangerous goal situations and won a Champions League point, which is a huge victory for their club.
Brugges was applauded with the stadium standing.
The best tribute from his fans to a game played with pure heart, with claw, intelligence and the cunning to know how to take advantage of the germination process that Pochettino is carrying out to transform the billionaire PSG into a team and not just a group of stars.
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