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Tag: Messi

  • Hakimi ‘surprised’ by Lionel Messi’s behaviour at PSG

    Hakimi ‘surprised’ by Lionel Messi’s behaviour at PSG

    Lionel Messi is “simple and quiet” in the dressing room, according to Archaf Hakimi, who admits being “surprised” by the Paris Saint-Germain superstar’s behaviour.

    “Building a technical relationship with him is easy! I give him the ball, I run and he will put it where it belongs!” the PSG full-back, who also joined the club in the summer transfer window, told L’Equipe. “I was surprised by the way he behaved, he is simple, quiet.”

    Hakimi is grateful for the opportunity to play alongside Messi, and thinks he and the rest of his teammates can reach a new level while working with the six-time Ballon d’Or winner.

    “For Messi to leave Barca, like everyone else, I didn’t expect it, and when I heard you were coming here, what can I say? A dream for me!” he added.

    “I played with many great players and the only one I missed was Messi! I am proud to evolve with such a good footballer.

    “To progress, I will pay attention to how he trains, how he plays. It will grow the team and each of the players that make it up. We speak the same language, in addition, little by little we are getting to know each other.”

  • Ligue 1: Messi ruled out of PSG game against Montpellier

    Ligue 1: Messi ruled out of PSG game against Montpellier

    Lionel Messi has been ruled out of Paris St Germain’s match against Montpellier FC on Saturday due to a bone bruising injury, the Ligue 1 club said on Friday.

    Messi suffered a knock on his left knee, and an MRI scan earlier confirmed signs of a bone contusion. He missed PSG’s 2-1 victory at Metz on Wednesday.

    He will be assessed again on Sunday ahead of next week’s Champions League home game against Manchester City FC.

    PSG said midfielder Marco Verratti will return to training on Sunday while defender Sergio Ramos, who has yet to make his club debut, continues to train individually as he recovers from a calf injury.

    PSG are top of the Ligue 1 standings with a perfect win record from seven games.

  • Messi was a tyrant in training – Ronald Koeman

    Messi was a tyrant in training – Ronald Koeman

    Ronald Koeman says Lionel Messi was like “a tyrant” during training at Barcelona.

    The Argentina star raised the bar at the Camp Nou club as he developed into one of the greatest to ever play the game before departing to join Paris Saint-Germain this year.

    Barca coach Koeman has lifted the lid on the six-time Ballon d’Or winner’s conduct during practices with the team, revealing he would get very angry if he did not win games during the sessions.

    “Lionel Messi has obscured everything. He was so good and he won,” he told Voetbal International.

    “Of course he had good players around him, but he made the difference. Everyone seems better than they are because of him. This is not a criticism, but an observation.

    “I knew how good he is, but it’s still nice to see it up close every day. Everything you would like to teach a football player, in recognising situations, in taking the ball under pressure, in ball speed, in finishing; with Messi everything is a 10. Not normal, not normal!

    “When we did a finishing practice during training, there were sometimes players who started to hit easy balls, a bit of fooling around. But with Messi everything was: boom, boom, boom, boom. Never frills, everything functional. And always wanted to win everything.

    “We always play a rondo before training. If the ball goes around 20 times, then the players in the middle must have an extra turn. If that happens three times in a row, the players will form two lines and the two who were in the middle then walk through and get taps on their heads and such.

    “I asked Messi if it had happened to him once. ‘Yes, once,’ he said. In all those years. With him, the older players never lost an exercise against the young. It happened once and Messi was seriously angry about that for a week. Really, a tyrant.”

  • Ligue 1: Pochettino says ‘no issues’ with Messi after substitution

    Ligue 1: Pochettino says ‘no issues’ with Messi after substitution

    Mauricio Pochettino said there are “no issues” with Lionel Messi after the Paris Saint-Germain superstar’s reaction to being substituted during Sunday’s 2-1 win over Ligue 1 rivals, Lyon.

    Messi had a puzzled look on his face as he walked past PSG head coach Pochettino, after been replaced by full-back Achraf Hakimi in the 76th minute of the game.

    Pochettino and Messi briefly exchanged words before the latter, who was making his home debut at the Parc des Princes following his blockbuster arrival from Barcelona.

    Messi was involved in six shots (four attempts, two chances created) against Lyon and only Kylian Mbappe against Clermont (seven) has managed better in a league game so far this season for PSG.

    A six-time Ballon d’Or winner, Messi also had 65 touches and made 48 passes with an accuracy of 83.3 per cent.

    Pochettino told a media conference: “I think everyone knows that we have many great players, with a 35-man squad.

    “We have to make choices, within the matchday squad and then during the game, keeping in mind what’s best for the team and every player.

    “Sometimes the decisions are positive, or not, but that’s what managers are there to do on the sidelines, to make decisions. It can please people or not.

    “I asked him how he was and he said he was fine, no issues.”

    PSG secured victory over Lyon following a dramatic injury-time header from substitute Mauro Icardi from Mbappe’s cross after Neymar’s penalty had earlier cancelled out Lucas Paqueta’s opening goal.

    Pochettino’s PSG are now five points clear of Marseille at the top of Ligue 1 after six wins from six games.

    PSG have achieved a flawless start from their first six games for the third time after 2017-18 and 2018-19 – on both those occasions they went on to be crowned champions.

    “It’s very positive for us,” Pochettino said of their start to the Ligue 1 campaign.

    “After the difficult game (against Club Brugge in the Champions League), this was important for us. Lyon are a very good team that play well.

    “We conceded that goal in the second half. The team needed to show some character.

    “We’re in a period where we’re trying a lot of things. We have to work on it in training, but it’s difficult because we have a game every three days, and the priority is that the players recover.

    “We can only do video sessions. It’s not an excuse, we need to improve.”

  • Messi yet to score first goal as PSG Beat Lyon

    Messi yet to score first goal as PSG Beat Lyon

    Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) needed an extra-time goal to defeat Lyon 2-1 in a French Ligue 1 clash on Sunday, but Argentine superstar, Lionel Messi was not on the scoring sheet as the wait for his first goal in France continued.

    Messi outshone his team-mates in PSG’s all-star attack for much of the game at the Parc des Princes but he had been taken off by the time substitute Icardi headed in a cross from the left to secure a win that looked unlikely for long spells.

    The excellent Lucas Paqueta gave Lyon the lead in the 54th minute, before Neymar won and then converted from the spot midway through the second half of an absorbing contest at the Parc des Princes.

    The fact it was a contest might come as a surprise to many who expect PSG to run away with the Ligue 1 title this season and perhaps even go all the way in the Champions League.

    However, they were disappointing in drawing 1-1 with Club Brugge in Belgium in midweek in Messi’s first start for the club and they were given a run for their money by Peter Bosz’s Lyon in a meeting of the two most successful French sides this century.

    Yet Icardi –- in many ways the forgotten man of the PSG attack –- allowed his side to make it six wins from six in Ligue 1 this season and they are now five points clear at the top from Marseille.

    That gap will surely widen as the weeks go by. Lyon, for all their good intentions here, are already 10 points behind the leaders in ninth place.

  • UCL: Club Brugge silent Messi as PSG play draw

    UCL: Club Brugge silent Messi as PSG play draw

    Lionel Messi’s main task at Paris St-Germain will be to help deliver an elusive Champions League, but for all the fanfare surrounding the Argentina star’s first start it proved a frustrating evening as the club began their European campaign with a draw at Club Brugge.

    Messi struck the crossbar but struggled to make a serious impact on his full debut and it was instead Ander Herrera who netted the opener after great work down the left from Kylian Mbappe.

    Hans Vanaken scored a deserved equaliser before the break to get the 29,000-seater Jan Breydel Stadium rocking.

    Messi was carded for a second-half foul and Mbappe replaced after 51 minutes as PSG found it difficult to break down the energetic hosts, who may feel they could have won the game themselves.

    PSG struggled to deal with the home side’s aggressive pressing throughout and needed goalkeeper Keylor Navas to tip Charles de Ketelaere’s well-struck effort over the crossbar to keep them level.

    Messi began to find more space as the Belgian side tired late on but the 34-year-old was unable to unpick the Bruges defence, leaving boss Mauricio Pochettino to ponder how to get the best out his all-star front three.

  • Ronaldo equals Messi, Casillas Champions League records

    Ronaldo equals Messi, Casillas Champions League records

    Cristiano Ronaldo equalled all-time Champions League records held by Iker Casillas and Lionel Messi during Manchester United’s game against Young Boys.

    Ronaldo made his first appearance for Man Utd in the competition since 2009 on Tuesday as he started in the club’s group-stage opener.

    Ronaldo made his first appearance for Man Utd in the competition since 2009 on Tuesday as he started in the club’s group-stage opener.

    With his start against Young Boys, Ronaldo matched Casillas with a record 177 appearances in the competition.

    It took the Portugal star just 13 minutes to open the scoring in Switzerland to put United 1-0 ahead, sealing in the process a share of another record.

    That would prove to be the best it got for United on the night, however, as the Swiss side scored twice in the second half to stun the Red Devils 2-1.

    Young Boys became the 36th different club he’s scored a Champions League goal against, with only Messi matching that mark.

  • The difference between aliens Messi and Ronaldo

    The difference between aliens Messi and Ronaldo

    Besiktas midfielder Miralem Pjanic has been asked to compare former teammates Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

    Pjanic played with Manchester United striker Ronaldo at Juventus, while he was with PSG star Messi at Barcelona.

    He told Tuttsport: “I feel very lucky to have played with these two aliens like this is like a trophy.

    “They are different, Léo and Cris, but also very similar: they live for competition and victory, even in training. Cristiano takes care of every little detail, but don’t think Messi isn’t a hard worker.

    “Leo, however, has a unique gift: he does everything with extreme simplicity. Even penalties…”

  • Messi couldn’t understand how Koeman treated me at Barca – Pjanic

    Messi couldn’t understand how Koeman treated me at Barca – Pjanic

    Besiktas signing Miralem Pjanic has again taken aim at Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman.

    Pjanic left Barca for Besiktas last week on a season-long loan.

    “Besiktas wanted me strongly in the last days of the transfer market and I couldn’t stay in Barcelona with Koeman, I would have lost another year and I didn’t want to,” Pjanic told Tuttosport.

    “Koeman had an attitude with me that no one understood, not even [Lionel] Messi. Leo, last year, told me several times: ‘But why doesn’t he let you play? Has something happened?.

    “Besiktas are the Turkish champions, they are in the Champions League and… they have a black and white jersey. They welcomed me in a great way, it will be another great challenge.”

  • Lionel Messi breaks Pele goal-scoring record

    Lionel Messi breaks Pele goal-scoring record

    Lionel Messi has overtaken Pele as the leading South American men’s goalscorer in international matches with a hat-trick in Argentina’s World Cup qualifier win against Bolivia.

    Scoring all the goals in the 3-0 win in Buenos Aires brought Messi’s total for Argentina to 79 in 153 games.

    Brazil legend Pele finished his career on 77 international goals in 92 games.

    Messi’s 14th-minute goal from outside the box put him level with Pele and he broke the record in the second half.

    The 34-year-old dribbled past a defender for his second goal before completing a hat-trick from a rebound two minutes before full-time.

    After the match, Argentina captain Messi and his team-mates celebrated with the Copa America trophy in front of 20,000 fans at the Monumental Stadium.

    He led the side to that title, his first major trophy in international football, in July, beating Brazil in the final.

    “I dreamed about this day a lot and thanks to God it arrived,” Messi wrote on Instagram alongside a picture of the team with the trophy after the match.

    “I don’t have words to thank you for all the love I’ve received. What a beautiful night, I enjoyed it so much – unforgettable.”