Leo Messi's first goal of the season is hard to forget.
He arrived at the Bloomfield Stadium, in the Supercup game against Nantes, and mentioned oblivion.
The Argentinian received a deep ball, passed the goalkeeper with a brush stroke, sent in with a small bounce with his right foot and opened the dam in a 0:4 victory.
This goal, plus the ability he demonstrated in that game, created the feeling that here is Messi returning to the days of his great conquests, that after a season of six league goals, the flea will repeat what he did in Barcelona and once again reach the 30 goals area.
Credit: Yehli Sagi
It may indeed happen, but since that goal in the humidity of the Hypean summer, the Argentine has added only three more goals to his tally, the last of which was three weeks ago against Lille.
Messi did suffer a bit of bad luck with kicks that were deflected by the posts, crossbars or Kylian Mbappe, but it seems that scoring goals is not a priority for the Argentinian.
Devotion, indeed.
While the Argentine is marginalized in the list of conquerors, he leads the list of brewers of the French league and of Europe in general.
This season he has already counted seven such in seven league cycles, and in 2022 he has 19 assists - more than any other player in the major leagues.
A look at other statistical lists reveals that the Argentine also leads the French league in key passes, in creating dangerous situations, in passes into the opponent's square and in successful dribbles.
In other words, Messi is busy this season with fattening.
This is not a new thing.
In the past, Javier Mascherano defined his fellow Argentinian as "a goalscorer and a creative midfielder in one man", but because the goals he scored were many and huge, the creativity in the passing game did not get the respect it deserved.
Even though he led the Spanish league for years in assists and deep passes, Messi was always the Messi of the exiles.
"Example for others"
And here at PSG, and especially this season, Messi is first of all moral.
Not just morality, but super morality, one of the best in the world.
In order to be like that, he is helped by the vision of the game, the genius, creativity and talent with which he was blessed, but also by the players and the coach who are around him.
Under Christophe Galtier, the Argentinian has been moved to a more back position, and from there he can navigate the attacking part of PSG better than last year, when he was pushed to the wing by Pochettino.
Messi and Galtier, photo: AFP
With Sergio Ramos, Marquinhos and Presnel Kimpamba behind - three defenders with good footwork, Ashraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendesh of the jets on the wings, and Marco Verratti and Vitinia in charge in the center of the field - the front three have the freedom to play the football that is expected of them.
It is not by chance that the collaboration between Messi and Neymar recalls their great days in Barcelona, and it is not by chance that Messi and Mbappe finally found a common denominator.
According to the data, the two pass to each other more than 15 times in the game, and produce a goal for each other every 150 minutes.
It seems that Messi is aware of his role in the team fabric as well as the fitness of the two in front of him, and he enjoys the opportunity to run them deep into the opponent's square with brilliant passes. Passion to play with each other."
It took time.
The connection between Messi and PSG did not work in the first season, which ended with an early elimination from the Champions League and with boos from the stands, but the start of the current season suggests that everyone has found their place in the team.
Including tax.
"He is an example and a role model for the others," Galtier recently complimented the Argentine star and added, "I enjoy seeing him on the grass and saying hello to him every morning."
The satisfaction is so great, that recently reports surfaced according to which PSG wants to extend Messi's contract for two more years.
Tonight, Messi will meet Maccabi Haifa after five games in which he did not score.
In other days, one could have declared a crisis or a drought for the Argentine, but the current Messi devoted himself religiously to his new role, which includes, first and foremost, dedication.
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us
