The Paper's reporter Chen Jun
Messi and his teammates celebrate scoring goals.
A day ago, the data website Whoscored gave a statistic that among the players who shot more than 25 goals on goal in the five major leagues this season, the player with the lowest efficiency of shooting into goals was Messi, with a conversion rate of only 2.9%, which obviously did not match the glory of the golden ball.
However, Messi quickly responded - in the early morning of the 8th, the Argentine helped Paris Saint-Germain beat Club Bruges 4-1, and the total number of career goals reached 758, surpassing the 757 goals of the king Pele.
For Messi and Paris, the run-in and sacrifice continue, and Messi also needs to distribute his physical strength reasonably.
Messi scored from distance.
Surpass Pele for the best
Messi's first goal came in the 37th minute, when he received Mbappe's long shift on the right side of the pitch and dribbled the ball forward, with as many as five men in Bruges' backline at the moment, with no obvious holes.
But Messi seized the opportunity of the opponent's collective retreat, playing a sharp arcing ball outside the box, and the goalkeeper whipped long.
In the 75th minute, Messi firmly protected the ball in the penalty area in the face of the clamping of three opposing defenders, Van der Bremut kicked down Messi in a panic, and the referee sentenced him to death with a penalty, messi stepped on it.
Messi scored from a penalty.
At this point, Messi has completed the surpassing of Pele, the king of goals, in front of him only C Ronaldo, who has just completed 801 goals; in addition, Messi has scored goals against 38 different teams in the Champions League, which is equal to Ronaldo.
After the game, the data website SOFASCORE gave Messi a high score of 9.6 points in the whole game - in terms of specific data, Messi shot 5 times, 3 shots on target, 1 shot deflection, 1 block, 2 passes were all successful, and there were 4 key passes, creating 2 scoring opportunities.
It seems that Messi on the offensive end is still very powerful.
Messi and Mbappe high-fived in celebration.
Sacrifice yourself and complete your teammates
However, the best of the game was not Messi, but Mbappe.
He scored the team's first two goals and assisted Lionel Messi, who scored just 6 minutes and 20 seconds, creating the second fastest double in Champions League history (behind Real Madrid player Rodrigo's 6:12 against Galatasaray in 2019).
Mbappe is still 12 days old and 23 years old, has scored 31 goals and assisted 20 times in the Champions League, in the same age group, he surpassed Messi's 25 goals and 7 assists, and C Ronaldo's 8 goals and 8 assists, with the existence of such a young man, it is no wonder that Messi will be robbed of the limelight.
After the game, Mbappe was not greedy, saying: "It's easy to play with Messi, he is the best player in the world. ”
Mbappe's words clearly conveyed a signal that Messi's arrival did not make him feel threatened by his position and that he was willing to play with Messi.
Messi's sacrifice cannot be mentioned here, since joining Paris, he has maintained a consistent low profile off the field, and he has tried his best to cooperate with his partner on the field - as a forward player, Messi will leave more opportunities to enter the box for Mbappe and Neymar.
A statistic shows that Messi has completed 11 long-range goals in the sport this year, far surpassing the four long-range goals of Levan and Cristiano Ronaldo. If you look at the goals after joining Paris, the debut goal of the Champions League against Manchester City and Club Club, Ligue 1 against Nantes, several goals are the same, they are all scrubbed shots at the front of the box.
On the one hand, it proves that Messi continues to maintain the killer skills he used to be good at, on the other hand, his on-field running position is indeed more in the "second row" of the greater Paris attack combination, and in order to maintain compatibility with his teammates, he has no intention of squeezing the activity space that Mbappe and Neymar are accustomed to.
In fact, Messi had the opportunity to use the penalty to complete the hat-trick against Leipzig, but he gave the penalty to Mbappe, who flew the ball away...
Mbappe also scored twice.
The key to the Champions League, need Messi
Messi is not a player who is obsessed with personal data, especially after joining a new team, he is more eager to make the forward combination of Greater Paris have a chemical reaction, so that his teammates can play comfortably and enjoy themselves. For now, Messi has done it.
Of course, it is also an indisputable fact that personal data has fallen sharply compared to Barca, but after this campaign, Messi's Champions League goals this season have quietly increased to 5, only one less than Cristiano Ronaldo.
After the game, Mbappe stressed that Messi will be the player who will work hard in important games, "I hope he can help us in the future, when the game really matters, we will need Messi." ”
As he said, the reason why Paris signed Messi is that they are not in Ligue 1, they have only one goal - to win the Champions League.
To a certain extent, Messi's poor statistics in Ligue 1 do not worry the team, and his gradual improvement in the Champions League is the most desirable thing for Paris clubs, teammates and even fans to see.
Messi broke through in the game.
With good Messi, the great Paris tightens the fence
After the Champions League group stage, Paris, who is in the same group as Manchester City, advanced to the knockout stage with the second place in the group, which means that they will meet the top of the other groups next, and the real severe test has just begun.
Manager Pochettino was not afraid in an interview, "If you want to win the Champions League, then you shouldn't care who the opponent is, the only thing that matters is that we win the game and continue to qualify, I don't know if other teams will be afraid to play against us." ”
Looking at the Champions League promotion teams, Paris with Messi, Mbappe and Neymar is undoubtedly the first and least wanted opponent in other groups, but if you want to go further, Paris has a long way to go.
From the current situation, the front trident is obviously not enough to protect the midfield, which makes the paris scene extremely passive when encountering strong opponents such as Manchester City.
Although Messi is a treasure trove on the attacking line, it is difficult for a 34-year-old striker on the defensive end to complete a large area of coverage, and even at Barca he did not participate in more defensive defense, which is similar to the situation after Ronaldo returned to Manchester United.
Evra and Henry have said in the show, "You can't just see what a player like [Ronaldo] can't do, but you have to see what he has done." ”
The same applies to Messi, allowing them to use their limited physical strength in the most deadly moments, which is the most important part for the team with Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
This requires the support of the whole team, otherwise it will be difficult for a strong messi to conquer the Champions League Big Ear Cup.
Editor-in-Charge: Ascendas
Proofreader: Ding Xiao