At 4:00 a.m. Beijing time on February 16, the first leg of the Champions League 1/8 final is about to usher in a focus battle, from Paris Saint-Germain home to Real Madrid, the two champions meet in advance, CCTV did not arrange CCTV5 channel live broadcast.
Originally, the opponent of Greater Paris was Manchester United, due to UEFA lottery mistakes, and Atletico Madrid's dissatisfaction with the appeal of re-drawing, making the new opponent of Greater Paris become the Champions League 13 champions Real Madrid, and the opponent is stronger.
At the pre-match press conference, manager Mauricio Pochettino said that in order to win the Champions League, Paris has been waiting for 50 years, and it is clear that the team wants to be a qualifier. In addition, Pochettino also talked about Messi, believing that with his experience, he would play a crucial role.
After Joining Paris this season, Messi has performed well in the Champions League, scoring goals in 3 consecutive home games, scoring a total of 5 goals, and is now about to play against La Liga giants Real Madrid, for Messi, it will not feel strange.
According to statistics, Messi has played against Real Madrid a total of 45 times in his career, achieving 19 wins, 11 draws and 15 losses, including 12 victories in 22 away games. In addition, Messi scored a total of 26 goals, as well as 14 assists, single-handedly produced 40 goals, and is also the top scorer of the Spanish national derby.
However, the last time Messi scored against Real Madrid was in the 2017-2018 season, and the last three seasons have not scored in seven consecutive games, no assists, and the performance is sluggish.
Last weekend in Ligue 1, Messi assisted Mbappe in the last minute to complete the shootout, helping Paris to beat Rennes 1-0, and it can be seen that Messi is getting better. Kylian Mbappe and Di Maria put Messi in the back, more often as an offensive organizer, and then against Real Madrid, Messi also needs to contribute more on the offensive end to help Paris ensure that they advance to the next round.
In this game, Messi can become the first player in history to score 30 goals in the Round of 16 of the Champions League, as well as break the goal drought against Real Madrid in seven consecutive games, and score four consecutive Champions League home goals in his Paris career, setting 3 consecutive records.