In the year that Lionel Messi transferred from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain after another exciting season at the Camp Nou, his impact on the French capital was not what was expected of the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner.
The prospect of building a strong team with Neymar and Kylian Mbappe has not been fulfilled, and Messi himself is in the midst of his worst season, statistically, in his career.
So far, Leo Messi has scored every 865 minutes in Ligue 1 – his only goal in France’s top flight. And even when he looks at his first campaign with Barcelona, there is a clear drop in output.
In the 2004/05 season, Messi scored one goal in 75 minutes, and the following year he scored one goal every 155 minutes for LaLiga.
Despite not performing well this season, Messi has been a PSG inspiration for the Champions League, with five goals in the group stage to help the Paris international qualify for the knockout stages.
Messi, however, especially in this phase of his career, should not be judged by his goals alone. In fact, he almost managed to influence the game in some way, and in Ligue 1 he was instrumental in five goals, including a hat-trick for assistants against Saint-Etienne.
After all, all of this is under the warning that Messi is adjusting to a new life in a new city, which in itself is causing a lot of problems. In line with the suspension of the first part of the campaign – due to international leave – Messi has not yet been able to get into the rhythm.
With that being said, Messi hopes that by 2022, once fully accustomed to life in Paris and PSG, he can inspire his teammates to the glory of home and Europe as they look to win their first Champions League.
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