In the depths of his being, he didn't fully buy it either.
That
"that's it, that's it"
that came out of his mouth dedicated to his relatives who were crying in one of the boxes at the Lusail stadium, hid a small lie.
Because it is true that
Lionel Andrés Messi took out a huge thorn
by winning the World Cup in Qatar and the feeling of emptiness was inevitable.
It is also true that nothing that happens to him sportingly will have that flavor.
But Rosario
is an
innate competitor and every time he jumps onto the field he wants to win.
The same thing that happened to him in the pastures of the Grandoli club in the '90s when he was a child full of illusions will happen to him this Wednesday in Germany, at the fantastic Allianz Arena, already being a family man, world champion and multi-awarded.
Thus,
Paris Saint Germain
will seek to come back from 0-1 against
Bayern Munich
, one of the black beasts in the
Flea
race , in the second leg of the
Champions League
round of 16 .
And much more:
Leo
is one goal away from reaching 800 in his award-winning career.
Photo: AP/Jon Super.
All the frustrations that Messi has left in football have the palliative of the World Cup;
then the pains will not be so deep.
But Leo wants to win, he insists.
And raising a new
Orejona
may be the last of his great objectives.
The man from Rosario has won
the Champions League 4 times in
19 editions that he played: 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015, all with
Barcelona
.
It seems little, really, for his monumental career.
That is why Messi will fight to keep the highest trophy at the club level in the world again.
“My whole life was like this, dedication, work, effort and wanting more every day.
The illusion now is to want with Paris the great objectives that we set ourselves.
In the last game we made an improvement after the victory against Marseille and we want to turn around the tie with Bayern Munich for the Champions League, which is the goal of everything",
the Argentine captain released in an official interview with PSG.
And he added:
“Without a doubt it is important to arrive in this way, after two victories to reinforce the idea and the team, and to go looking for the victory in Munich.
Everything is decided by small details in football and we arrived very well, capable of reversing the situation.
In the last game there was a change and the victories help to work calmly, with confidence and the hope of continuing in the Champions League”
.
Photo: REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth.
Messi arrived in Germany walking alongside
Kylian Mbappé
.
And that could be quite a message for Bayern: the two best in the world today are more close than ever.
The fate of Christophe Galtier
's team depends on them
, much more so with Neymar's right ankle injury, who will miss the rest of the season.
Photo: Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP.
Even the man from Rosario received a warm and unexpected reception when he arrived at the concentration hotel.
Shouting
"give him champion
" and the already famous
"Messi/Messi/Messi
", the German fans greeted the world champion, while trying to capture a smile with their cell phones.
There were close to a thousand people chanting to 10.
Of course Leo will not have it easy due to the quality of the rival.
Bayern Munich is one of the teams that has caused Messi the most headaches.
The historic 8-2 win
in Lisbon for the 2020 Champions League is still remembered.
It will be Leo's eighth game against the German giant: they lost 4, won 2 and drew 1;
scored 2 goals
“I know my statistics in matches against Messi.
There is the 8-2 against Barcelona, but I think the most important was the 7-0 aggregate in the 2013 semifinal. It was ten years ago and these are statistics from the past, this will be another game”, commented midfielder
Thomas
Müller
.
For Messi, in addition, the duel on Teutonic soil will be another chance to
reach his 800 goals in his professional career
.
So far, La
Pulga
has scored 672 with Barcelona (778 games), 98 with the Argentine National Team (172) and 29 with PSG (63).
The good news for Messi and the whole team is that they will be able to count on a full Kylian Mbappé.
In the first leg he played just a few minutes because he was recovering from a muscle injury.
Another fact to take into account is that away goals no longer count.
Messi, the Champions League and Bayern Munich as a rival.
A stellar billboard that cannot fail and that can mark another historic day for
Leo
.
look too
Lionel Messi talks about everything: from the "heart attack final against France" to the conviction that PSG will pass the duel against Bayern Munich
Messi, focused on PSG: the chance of 800 goals and the preview of "his other World Cup" against Bayern
Neymar will undergo ankle surgery and will miss the remainder of the season for Messi's PSG
The Champions League round of 16, a possible 'picadora' of technicians: from Messi's PSG to Enzo Fernández's Chelsea