Don't think he was one of the best players for PSG but if that's his best level nowadays then it's not shock the team folded like wet paper after the first goal.
Lionel Messi | PSG Watch
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He has 2-3 moments of incredible quality per game left in him. The rest of the time he's a passenger
He really isn't. There's at least 3 players better than him at PSG right now. And i'm holding myself back too. I'd rather have any of Hakimi, Nuno Mendes or Marquinhos on my team than Messi right now
Yeah, going for today's game it was all Mbappe in their attack although Neymar provided and assist and was trying to link up here and there with Messi, but I don't recall seeing him doing anything significant today. It's not like he played an horrible game but like many are stating he was invisible.
They are losing Mbappe now so maybe that would make easier to balance that team. It was always a problem to cover up for that front three when they were having a bad game, so maybe next season they can assemble a more balanced team better suited for him, or maybe he just calls it quits and goes back to Argentina or something.
He's the GOAT. He has nothing to prove in club level and you can see it on the pitch.
He's going to give it all in the world cup and then retire at the end of next season.
He's going to give it all in the world cup and then retire at the end of next season.
Going out sad
What a monumental waste of money for them. I like it.
All I takes is a PSG player to play Mbappe into any kind of space and he’s running on though on goal. I wouldn’t be taking assists in that set up as any sort of barometer.
Let me start by just saying that if you guys are a bunch of these Ronaldo Vs Messi warriors stop projecting your PTSD on to me , I don't give a shit about either of them and they are both shadows of themselves.
I just think it's hilarious that people can watch a game and be so blinded by an agenda that they can ignore what happened in front of their own eyes.
It's in response to you saying he was invisible and that you watched the game
don't try and act like I'm bringing up touches for no reason.
You not paying attention then cause how can a guy who has the 2nd most touches of the ball be invisible , he was literally on the ball just slightly less than Veratti (who also had a great game in possession).
Had you said .. "He didn't score or assist " you would have been correct.
"Invisible" for me is a guy who isn't involved in a game, not a guy who has the 2nd most touches of a football while his team , especially in the first half, controls possession at the bernabeu.
Until the keeper makes a mess of that backpass PSG were cruising and Veratti and Messi were central to that.
Behind Mbappe of course because of the impact he had on the game but I felt him and Verrati were brilliant in possession and allowed PSG to pin Madrid in their own half for much of the game.
Neymar maybe sneaks in because of his assist but I felt Messi was better on the night.
None of them deserve any credit for their play after the Madrid opener though
I could give you a list of 100 players that I would prefer my club to sign over messi but that wasn't my point.
If Messi had a bad performance I would love to know what those guys did tonight?
If your idea of a good Messi performance is lots of goals and assists and explosiveness then you haven't been paying attention to Messis performances lately.
All and all he is definitely not the player he was a decade ago but tonight he was definitely better than the majority of his PSG teammates.
I just think it's hilarious that people can watch a game and be so blinded by an agenda that they can ignore what happened in front of their own eyes.
It's in response to you saying he was invisible and that you watched the game
don't try and act like I'm bringing up touches for no reason.You not paying attention then cause how can a guy who has the 2nd most touches of the ball be invisible , he was literally on the ball just slightly less than Veratti (who also had a great game in possession).
Had you said .. "He didn't score or assist " you would have been correct.
"Invisible" for me is a guy who isn't involved in a game, not a guy who has the 2nd most touches of a football while his team , especially in the first half, controls possession at the bernabeu.
Until the keeper makes a mess of that backpass PSG were cruising and Veratti and Messi were central to that.
On the night he most definitely was.
Behind Mbappe of course because of the impact he had on the game but I felt him and Verrati were brilliant in possession and allowed PSG to pin Madrid in their own half for much of the game.
Neymar maybe sneaks in because of his assist but I felt Messi was better on the night.
None of them deserve any credit for their play after the Madrid opener though
I didn't say that he's a better player than anyone else, I said that tonight he was better than those 3 for sure.
I could give you a list of 100 players that I would prefer my club to sign over messi but that wasn't my point.
If Messi had a bad performance I would love to know what those guys did tonight?
If your idea of a good Messi performance is lots of goals and assists and explosiveness then you haven't been paying attention to Messis performances lately.
All and all he is definitely not the player he was a decade ago but tonight he was definitely better than the majority of his PSG teammates.
Good post! I like this guy’s moxieLet me start by just saying that if you guys are a bunch of these Ronaldo Vs Messi warriors stop projecting your PTSD on to me , I don't give a shit about either of them and they are both shadows of themselves.
I just think it's hilarious that people can watch a game and be so blinded by an agenda that they can ignore what happened in front of their own eyes.
It's in response to you saying he was invisible and that you watched the game
You not paying attention then cause how can a guy who has the 2nd most touches of the ball be invisible , he was literally on the ball just slightly less than Veratti (who also had a great game in possession).
Had you said .. "He didn't score or assist " you would have been correct.
"Invisible" for me is a guy who isn't involved in a game, not a guy who has the 2nd most touches of a football while his team , especially in the first half, controls possession at the bernabeu.
Until the keeper makes a mess of that backpass PSG were cruising and Veratti and Messi were central to that.
On the night he most definitely was.
Behind Mbappe of course because of the impact he had on the game but I felt him and Verrati were brilliant in possession and allowed PSG to pin Madrid in their own half for much of the game.
Neymar maybe sneaks in because of his assist but I felt Messi was better on the night.
None of them deserve any credit for their play after the Madrid opener though
I didn't say that he's a better player than anyone else, I said that tonight he was better than those 3 for sure.
I could give you a list of 100 players that I would prefer my club to sign over messi but that wasn't my point.
If Messi had a bad performance I would love to know what those guys did tonight?
If your idea of a good Messi performance is lots of goals and assists and explosiveness then you haven't been paying attention to Messis performances lately.
All and all he is definitely not the player he was a decade ago but tonight he was definitely better than the majority of his PSG teammates.
@RacingClub he was pretty good, though nothing really special, until the 1-1. More functional than anything. Neymar was the more incisive and dangerous of the two and Verratti played a greater role in their dominance. Mbappé of course was the one putting the fear of God in us and making said domination possible in the first place. Mendes and Danilo were also better than him to that point imo, the latter key in containing Vinicius
It's sad to see but even the greatest players of all time will come to a point where they just can't keep up anymore. Sort of crazy to think 12 months ago he was in Best Player in the World form.
How has this become a Messi bashing session. PSG folded today because the goalkeeper and defenders had an absolute brain fart by gifting Madrid those goals. If the goal keeper doesn’t piss about for their first goal, that’s a comfortable PSG win.
You can clearly see Messi is still so dangerous every time he gets the ball regardless of how little he does without it. He’s currently on a different level to what Ronaldo is on right now.
Some of you talking here like Messi is no longer able to walk. He would be our best player by some distance if he was in the Utd team even now.
You can clearly see Messi is still so dangerous every time he gets the ball regardless of how little he does without it. He’s currently on a different level to what Ronaldo is on right now.
Some of you talking here like Messi is no longer able to walk. He would be our best player by some distance if he was in the Utd team even now.
It’s such a shame to see. He’s 34, it’s not that old these days, and with all the advances in sports medicine and nutrition, I’d say he should be more than capable of maintaining a very high physical level at this stage of his career. His time in Paris will be held against him, and rightfully so, he didn’t have to be past it but it looks like that’s what’s happening.
Dangerous how? He never felt dangerous tonight. Mbappé felt dangerous - petrifyingly so. Neymar at times felt dangerous. Verratti felt dangerous. Messi? Not so much
Ronaldo's all round play has deteriorated at a faster rate than Messi. Messi has moments of pure quality even if on the decline. His freekick today was brilliant to - just over the top. Ronaldo seems to have relinquished all of his previous traits that made him a good all round player. He seems to just want to be the player to put the icing on the cake with that sublime finish. I feel Messi has got more to his game even if he was disappointing today
You are coming across in your posts like someone who is really bitter towards Messi for the punishment he has endured on Madrid over the years. PSG dominated most of that game and made Madrid look really average for large parts. They were toying with them. Messi was a big part of that. To suggest you would have some of the lesser players ahead of him is just ridiculous mate.
He really fell of a cliff.
That's it for him in CL this season, out in the last 16 to end PSG worst CL campaign in years. Now he has to go back to Ligue 1 where he doesn't even want to perform there, its a quite depressing.
Cheers for the balanced response and sorry for maybe lumping you in with some obvious fanatics.
I can definitely see why you felt that way so I can't really argue with it. He definitely was not as incisive as he could have been.
At very best it was a good not great performance from him over the 90 , I was just really arguing with the "Invisible" claim which is frankly ridiculous.
Yeh I think he is still better than many of his PSG teammates, but a shadow of himself with many subpar performance nonetheless. But you don't have to compare with what he was a decade ago to make a point, I'd argue he wasn't even half the player he was from last season (24 motm in 41 games last season vs 5 motm in 24 games this term), so Its really a big decline for him individually this season, but he could still do a decent job as pure playmaker/ support forward for his team, but at the expense of offering nothing in defending/covering ground and costing imbalance on the team of course.Let me start by just saying that if you guys are a bunch of these Ronaldo Vs Messi warriors stop projecting your PTSD on to me , I don't give a shit about either of them and they are both shadows of themselves.
I just think it's hilarious that people can watch a game and be so blinded by an agenda that they can ignore what happened in front of their own eyes.
It's in response to you saying he was invisible and that you watched the game
You not paying attention then cause how can a guy who has the 2nd most touches of the ball be invisible , he was literally on the ball just slightly less than Veratti (who also had a great game in possession).
Had you said .. "He didn't score or assist " you would have been correct.
"Invisible" for me is a guy who isn't involved in a game, not a guy who has the 2nd most touches of a football while his team , especially in the first half, controls possession at the bernabeu.
Until the keeper makes a mess of that backpass PSG were cruising and Veratti and Messi were central to that.
On the night he most definitely was.
Behind Mbappe of course because of the impact he had on the game but I felt him and Verrati were brilliant in possession and allowed PSG to pin Madrid in their own half for much of the game.
Neymar maybe sneaks in because of his assist but I felt Messi was better on the night.
None of them deserve any credit for their play after the Madrid opener though
I didn't say that he's a better player than anyone else, I said that tonight he was better than those 3 for sure.
I could give you a list of 100 players that I would prefer my club to sign over messi but that wasn't my point.
If Messi had a bad performance I would love to know what those guys did tonight?
If your idea of a good Messi performance is lots of goals and assists and explosiveness then you haven't been paying attention to Messis performances lately.
All and all he is definitely not the player he was a decade ago but tonight he was definitely better than the majority of his PSG teammates.
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Not really. Precisely because i've seen Messi torment my team for so many years i can say this. Messi used to be terrifying sorrounded by opponents at the edge of his own box. Tonight, i was catching mg breath everytime the ball went to him, as opposed to Mbappé or Neymar. Free kick aside, he never looked a real danger tonight
He played well until the 1-1, sure, was very functional to their ability to keep the ball and pin us back, but that's it. Hell, when he stepped up to take the penalty in the first leg I was actually confident he'd miss it.
A remarkable fall from grace. Still not a bad player, in fact he could probably still be great or at least very good in different circumstances. But it feels like his time at the top is over. You can't be one of the very top sides in the world with Messi anymore. Damn that feels weird to say
Maybe we can't expect from him the same he did until last year with Barcelona. Playmaker + finisher. He is becoming more of a midfielder now. That's why he was the second player with most passes.
He’s saving it all for the World Cup. He probably doesn’t want to get injured and doesn’t care about PSG. Can’t blame him.
World cup is at the end of the year. Too much time for that.
He tries harder for Argentina for sure, but you can’t just turn it on just like that.
The issue is there is a lot missing from Messi game for a midfielder. Midfielder have to do a lot of defensive duty too, which Messi often prefer to be in attacker role during this defensive phase. This becomes a luxury, which cause imbalance in the team as PSG already top heavy to begin with.
Pretty much. You really have to construct your team around his limitations to make it worth those moments of genius which are still there. He just lacks consistency throughout games now, and his dribbling isn't the weapon it used to be. Now most of the value comes from his passing and movement between the lines. Basically you need a team that can consistently and reliably get him the ball in dangerous areas, runners to take advantage of his passing, and workrate to make up for his inability to sustain defensive effort
Unpopular opinion: he was holding barcelona back. Yes they've been worse without him, and yes he carried them last season - carried to a domestic cup that is - but he also took so much away from the Pedri's and De Jong's that are their future
Btw: Argentina currently have exactly the sort of team he needs. Funny how that works
Have you considered its because Messi doesn't move much, that he is slow and can't beat defenders with pace anymore? There is a reason PSG sets up Mbappe instead of Messi.
Messi's decline is very much physical also.
He never was and never will be a proper midfielder though, he lacks certain attributes.
People like to put these players in binary "all mentality, all physical and all natural " buckets.
Messi's decline is definitely physical. You need a lot of balance, burst and high reflexes to pull of the feints Messi used to
Fat Ronaldo did in 2002, fresh off an injury layoff.
Truthfully If Mbappe goes to Madrid this summer I would gladly give my left nut to see Ronaldo and Messi join forces at the tail end of their career.
The old guard vs the new guard. Mouth watering.
The old guard vs the new guard. Mouth watering.
In reality, it would just be sad though.
The only thing left to motivate Messi at this point is the WC. I do not think that a successful CL run next season is possible at PSG with Mbappe leaving and Neymar getting worse each year, he must be aware of that.
I would love to see him display his magic couple of times in the WC. He will probably retire after the WC as there really is nothing else left to compete for.
I would love to see him display his magic couple of times in the WC. He will probably retire after the WC as there really is nothing else left to compete for.
Ronaldo should retire after the world cup too, if Portugal qualify that is.
Though of course, seeing as the world cup was moved to the middle of the season, nobody will be retiring right after, i don't think,
There are a lot of similarities between Messi and Ronaldo's declines in their best attributes. Messi's little feints to shoot are just half a second too slow now to be truly effective. Ronaldo's turns to shoot are the same. Both have genius knowledge of how to score a goal but their bodies can't keep up with their minds.
Most don’t think he was though and that Lewandowski was robbed (he was).
The argument was always how Barca would’ve been fecked without him, yet this season is showing what a load of us said, Barça even in a topsy turvy season are gonna piss top 3. That’s the same position as they took with Messi in apparently “best in the World “ form and “dragging them there single-handedly”.
It’s appearing more and more likely that setting up to play to Messi’s strengths quite possibly hampered Barça as much as it aided them last season.
I agree with what another poster said here, Messi is clearly in the top 3 ever, but if my life depended on one game and I had to pick from Messi or Maradona, well the latter I’d take every time.
Agree with this entirely.