This season is likely to be very foreign to fans who are no more than fifteen years old. Messi and C Ronaldo, who have been at the top of the world football scene for fifteen years, have both stepped off the altar this year, but several of their peers and little brothers who were originally overwhelmed by them have begun to rejuvenate.
For example, in the Champions League knockout round in the early morning of March 10, Beijing time, Messi, who has played for Paris, did not escape the nightmare of being reversed consecutively, and the team was eliminated by Real Madrid with three goals in a row to eliminate the champions league quarterfinals with a 2-0 lead. But you have to say that this is because he is older and not always, and the person who brought him a big reversal was Benzema, who was only half a year younger than him. The French striker relied on the hat-trick of this game to surpass his French compatriot Giroud in one fell swoop to become the oldest player in the history of the Champions League to complete the hat-trick at the age of 34 years and 80 days.
Even more impressive than the victory and record is the way Benzema scored three goals. The first goal was a hopeless attempt to squeeze the ball under the pressure of Paris goalkeeper Donnarumma, and eventually led to the other side's pass directly to the feet of Real Madrid teammate Vinicius, who assisted Benzema in the empty goal and blew the horn of Real Madrid's counterattack.
Such high-level pressing cannot be said to be rare today, but it is still a bit surprising that it happened to a veteran who is close to 35 years old. After all, Messi has been known as the "walking emperor" for "running less" seven or eight years ago, and now saint-Germain in Paris is also controversial because of his lack of active participation in defense. However, it would not be surprising if you are familiar with Real Madrid and Benzema, after all, Benzema has already achieved a lot of results in oppressing the giant goalkeeper, including the classic case of pressing Liverpool goalkeeper Karius to break the ball directly in the Champions League final.
By the way, another veteran in the Real Madrid squad, the 36-year-old Modric, does not look like he is two years older than Messi, and he is also running all over the field to actively defend, and in the second goal, he staged a full performance from the broken ball to the long-distance attack and finally the fatal assist. The 34-year-old Messi, who joined Paris for more than half a year, is still outside the team system - of course, this may not be his problem, and whether Paris has a team system is still unknown. However, the attack is not in the system, the defense is not very good, and the last game also missed a penalty, messi looked a little lonely against the background of his peers.
What is even more depressing is that the young people and even the mainstay of the Big Paris who should have become Messi's helpers are not as good as the veterans. The 23-year-old Donnarumma made a fatal mistake, the 28-year-old Marchinios completely sent a third goal to make Real Madrid comeback, and the 30-year-old Neymar is said to have had a serious clash with Donnarumma in the locker room after the game, although he did not perform much on the field.
The only new generation with outstanding performance is Mbappe, who is deeply involved in the transfer storm and will represent no one to say next year. Paris Saint-Germain have already suffered two-goal reversals three times in five years, and the likelihood of leaving Mbappe behind is once again diminished.
Although Messi C Ronaldo has stepped off the altar, but the old demon like Benzema Modric is still strong, but the new generation may be worshiping Merleau for too long, and the world football world still seems to be the old men who have the final say.
Text/Old Five
Photo/ Weibo, Xinhua News Agency