Who said Messi came to Paris Saint-Germain and stepped back? He delivered 12 assists at Barca last season, and with seven rounds left in Ligue 1 this season, he has already contributed 13 assists, surpassing himself last year.
What's even more frightening is that Messi's report card of 3 goals and 13 assists has been completed in his last 15 Ligue 1 games. Do you think Messi who doesn't shoot is a good bully? The 34-year-old veteran is too good at passing, and if you're not careful, you've been broken.
01. Mbappe becomes the starter: he decides when to get up
In recent matches, Paris Saint-Germain has made new adjustments to the division of labour for the team. Neymar began to become a left forward, left winger and forward trinity, requiring a lot of running and long sprints in offensive and defensive transitions.
The advantage of this is to let Mbappe stay in front of the field when defending, pull the ball to the left side of his favorite offensive and defensive transition, and get more opportunities to dominate the rhythm of the attack. Even in the game, there are frequent opportunities for a two-stage impact on the left side of Paris.
Messi was waiting in the middle a lot of the time, and when Mbappe picked up speed, according to the needs of the situation, Messi received it at the front and sent a key pass to tear the defense line.
In Messi in Paris, the ball moves more frequently and is always in need of emergencies. His strengths lie in the precision of his passes and his ability to perceive space.
Because Paris Saint-Germain as a whole moves quickly, Messi's transformation into an assist king is also conducive to making the team's attack sharper. This time, the goal was Neymar retreating from the middle of the front line and then counter-inserting into the box.
It is clear from the GIF that Neymar and Kylian Mbappe of the Paris Trident have a swap on the offensive end. Using Mbappe's starting speed, he gave his opponent space on the left and let Neymar interject a second time.
Messi's clever pass was delivered in such a timely manner that the Brazilian used his left foot to break the deadlock with a left-footed blast to help the team break the deadlock.
Paris' second goal of the game was Neymar's pure pull to the left-back position, sending a clever cross to Messi on the front of the box with his left foot.
The latter's extremely beautiful chest stopped the ball and picked out a pass, allowing Mbappe to score after facing the goalkeeper and further extending the lead.
From the statistics, it can be seen that Messi, although nominally a right winger, is essentially a forward. His touch points were almost always concentrated in the middle, sending out a large number of very threatening passes.
02. Why it's hard to score goals: Only 2 pure Messi-paced attacks in 1 game
As a striker, the 34-year-old Messi has only made eight shots on goal in his last four Ligue 1 games, averaging just two shots per game.
Messi's performance in passing this game was excellent, but there were still only two shots on goal, and none of them were on target.
This is related to the fact that the current offensive rhythm of Paris Saint-Germain has been dominated by Mbappe, but in the case of sporadic opportunities, Messi will also try to find the feeling of shooting.
Neymar is now deeply behind in the offensive and defensive transitions, so that Messi and Mbappe are one forward and the other is a striker in the front, and then return to the front through Neymar's counter-insertion, bringing a fine-tuning and rhythmic explosion of the three-man character.
This wave was advanced through Neymar and then split the ball, and then he inserted himself into the middle of the penalty area to attract the attention of the center-backs, allowing the game to enter Messi's favorite state.
Flank Kylian Mbappe was left empty and Messi's split from the left was always so well and fluid.
Messi's ability to grab a point in front of goal is actually very strong, and his no-ball movement into the box is very clever. Seeing Mbappeira's side cross and Neymar's no-ball cover to attract the centre-back, Messi made precise use of the space behind Clement's defence and completed the goal with a powerful header.
Although this time the goal was ruled invalid because Kylian Mbappe started earlier and caused offside. However, such a goal is a typical Messi-style defense.
Neymar has been positioned as an attacking sapper in the last 2 games, with a wide range of movement covering the entire left side. At the same time, Neymar reduced his attempts to increase the number of no-ball receptions, interspersed and passing tandem.
Looking at this wave of offense, it's a similar story. Messi pushed forward and distributed it to Mbappe, followed by Neymar on the flank cover.
Messi inserted into the penalty area in front of the middle highway to meet, but unfortunately this time the cross was half a step bigger, and Messi could not wrap it in place.
03. The rhythm is dominated by Mbappe: Messi is willing to make a wedding dress
Messi sent 3 assists + 5 key passes in this game, and the overall pass success rate was as high as 92%, which is very scary data.
Messi scored fewer goals at Paris Saint-Germain, more because the team's offensive dominance was Mbappe, and his positioning was a role as a wedding dress.
If it is a Messi attack, Mbappe should take the defender to the inside, let Mendes take the ball, and then Messi will get the space to meet the inverted triangle at the top of the arc.
However, under the regular offensive rhythm of Paris Saint-Germain, Mbappe is the real red flower, and Messi is doing the role of green leaf.
After Mbappe took the ball, Messi and Neymar stepped forward to tie the defender in the middle of the penalty area, Mbappe only needed to attack a centre-back on the ribs, and because Mendes was in the flank empty sleeve, the opponent's attention was distracted.
Under this tactical arrangement, Mbappeneche scored a hat-trick with a blast. Messi, who made the wedding dress, also got a hat-trick for assists.
Messi's contribution in the game is not only 3 assists, but also a lot of small and exquisite passes to bring the overall attack to the sudden enlightenment.
But will Messi be proud of his "withdrawal from the organization and the style of Playing Iniesta"? After the match, Messi sent an autograph and blessing to Mbappe, who scored 3 goals and took the match ball with him: "Congratulations! phenomenon".
From the pitch to the pitch, Messi is so humble and atmospheric. In fact, at the age of 34, with 7 Ballon d'Or awards + 4 Champions League gold cups, as well as an America's Cup and a Lauraus Grand Prix in hand, Messi doesn't need much else to prove himself.
Conclusion:
Messi is no. 3 in the entire list of assists in the top five leagues this season, and is the only player in Ligue 1 who has scored two hat-tricks in a single season in the past 10 years.
As long as he stays on the pitch, people who love football will feel the difference. Messi didn't score this time, but anyone who has watched the game will know how well Messi has done.
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