Messi is on fire again, Ligue 1 home against Rennes, 93 minutes of 1 assist allowed Mbappe to get the 13th league goal of the season, but also helped Greater Paris to get 3 points, and won four consecutive league games, while continuing to lead the table, and the second-place team opened a gap of 16 points, most likely to ensure the league championship this season. After a misstep in January, the returning Messi is in great shape, scoring 1 goal and giving 2 assists in his last 2 games, becoming the key man of the game. It seems that Messi is ready for the next Champions League match against Real Madrid, facing perhaps the most crucial match of the season.
Or first look at this game, as the league leader, Greater Paris made adjustments again in the front line, Messi appeared near the middle of the road, partner Mbappe and 18-year-old youngster Simmons, the whole game process was not smooth, the opening stage of Rennes's offensive was once very strong, but it failed to break the goal of Greater Paris, but after a period of time in the game, gave Mbappe a lot of threats, if it were not for the shot off target, perhaps Paris greater Paris took the lead early. In stoppage time, Icardi's pass found Messi, who handed it to Mbappe on the left, and this time the French shooter did not waste a chance, easily scored the ball, and the big Paris home home to take all three points.
Judging from the post-match statistics, Mbappe scored the highest rating of the game with his final-minute goal, but his shooting efficiency in this game was actually not high, trying 5 shots on goal and scoring 1 goal. Moreover, the defensive end of the Big Paris gave Rennes a lot of opportunities, the opponent's 13 shots in the whole game even more than the greater Paris, Pochettino's team still has a lot to change. Messi played the role of an organizer, with 4 key passes in the whole game being the most threatening player in the team, and 4 passing statistics also leading the whole field. For now, it looks like Messi is finding his form in Paris as the second half of the race begins and the role position changes.
In the next step, Greater Paris will face Real Madrid at home, a match that directly determines whether Greater Paris can enter the top 8 of the Champions League, and even directly determines how far Paris can go in the Champions League. As the parisian player who is most familiar with Real Madrid, Messi has broken through the door of Real Madrid many times in the past when he played for Barcelona, and this game is once again facing the old opponent, which is both the time to test Messi and the time to test greater Paris. Since coming to Paris, Messi has scored 7 goals and provided 7 assists in all competitions, which is still a very obvious decline compared to the Barca era. There are many reasons for this phenomenon, and changes in roles and positions, changes in the team lineup, changes in the squad system are all very critical reasons.
In recent times, the combination of Messi and Mbappe has been in good shape, but with Neymar's imminent comeback, the Trident will be combined again, how to adjust the state of the team and how to reasonably distribute the role played by the three in the attack, all test Pochettino's coaching ability. If in the next game against Real Madrid, Paris did not win the game, the trident's gold content will be questioned in all directions, and even make the current lineup of this team fall apart, and eventually Mbappe will leave Real Madrid, Pochettino will leave the team, and the new coach will take office, at that time it will be a new cycle, but Messi may not have so much time.