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With a glance at the sky and three kisses addressed to the family sitting at the top of the stands, Lionel Messi has finally settled into a new life in Paris.
It took a long time. Initial form after his sudden arrival from Barcelona has been below usual standards. He had a knee problem and, after being replaced by Mauricio Pochettino about a week ago, he walked past his manager looking like a man who can’t break his stride before his return to Camp Nou .
But goals change everything in football and here, in a grateful Parc des Princes, Messi scored the first of his new club career to spoil the night of his former coach Pep Guardiola.
It was also a goal. PSG were leading thanks to Idrissa Gueye’s initial strike, but were starting to hang on a bit against a Manchester City side who had dominated possession and the best chances.
Messi’s intervention was therefore timely because, with just over a quarter of an hour to go, he drove into the field from the right, played a nice one-two with Kylian Mbappe on the edge of the box. repair and fired for the first time with his left foot. top left of goalie Ederson and in the top corner.
Messi has done such things so many times before, but the importance of this goal was huge. Not only did this put PSG in charge of that Champions League group and put an end to last season’s semi-final loss to City, but it felt like it marked the start of Messi’s new career.
City will be upset and disappointed, but only with themselves. They took advantage of the most possession and territory, but missed some good chances, especially when Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva both hit the bar within seconds of each other in the first half.
Once again, City played without a center forward. Guardiola might miss the topic, but that doesn’t make it any less relevant. It’s on nights like this that not replacing Sergio Aguero in the summer continues to feel like the greatest madness.
With Messi declared fit to play, PSG were able to put the full weight of their attacking arsenal to avenge last season’s semi-final defeat against the champions England.
In two games last spring, City were vastly superior to the France squad, revealing their opponents’ defensive shortcomings. But in the first game in Paris, City dragged on at half-time and that’s what happened here.
City didn’t deserve to be late. Not on the balance of play. Overall, Guardiola’s team successfully pushed PSG into the middle of the pitch and thus benefited from periods of possession in the right areas. PSG – with Messi and Neymar stationed on either side of central striker Kylian Mbappe – were largely forced to play at the break.
However, the only goal of the first period fell to the French in the eighth minute only.
There hadn’t been much so far, but PSG’s quick attack on the right was sharp enough to open City.
Messi was involved early in the movement, but it was Mbappe who managed to get past City’s backline on the right side to bring the ball back to Neymar. Stationed near the penalty spot, Neymar would have leaned to score but was completely wrong. He was lucky that the ball ended up falling in his teammate Gueye’s path and he whipped it high to Ederson’s left with his right foot.
Called back to England for his time with Aston Villa and Everton, Gueye wouldn’t have been many people’s choice for the first goalscorer here, but it was a decisive finish nonetheless.
For a while, City were unable to tackle PSG. In midfield, Italy’s Marco Verratti was particularly elusive.
Over time, an element of control has arrived. City began to squeeze their opponents in key areas, forcing the transfer of possession. The problem for the team chasing the game was that they couldn’t find the app required to complete the chances they created for themselves.
Playing again without a recognized center-forward, City were relying on Sterling and De Bruyne to rotate down the middle and when their best half-time chance arrived both players were involved.
De Bruyne’s cross from the left with the outside of the right foot just before the half hour was sublime. Falling between two PSG defenders, he was perfectly placed for Sterling to enter with a header, but the ball bounced off the bar. Still City looked set to equalize as Bernardo Silva moved on to free ball. At only three meters, he could not miss. But he did. Once again, the bar got in the way and PSG cleared the ball with their lead intact.
There were other chances for City after that. Defender Ruben Dias saved Euro 2020-winning Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma with a header at the far post while Ander Herrera – formerly of Manchester United – stole the ball from Sterling as a chance seemed imminent.
Not that the flow was one way. Not at all. PSG were dangerous on block and one of those moves saw Mbappe line up the ball with Herrera in the penalty area in the 38th minute. Ederson saved that one but wouldn’t have denied center-back Marquinhos if the Brazilian had managed to apply a point-blank touch in the corner that followed.
De Bruyne’s thin, high tackle on Gueye just before half-time looked awkward rather than malicious. Nevertheless, the yellow card he received could have been red. On a Saturday afternoon in the Premier League, the Belgian would probably have walked.
City certainly needed him. They probed continuously during the first 15 minutes of the second half but could not decipher the code of the PSG.
Joao Cancelo’s super ball at Sterling gave the English man some space, but his shot was fired through the goal. Then Riyad Mahrez played De Bruyne but Donnarumma saved with his legs.
Messi’s contribution up to this point had been strangely unstable. The noise from the crowd rose a level each time he retrieved the ball and looked to make inroads. But meaningful contributions were hard to find.
But a quarter of an hour from the end, everything changed. Messi’s breaking in from the right was a hallmark and once he received the ball from Mbappe’s nice back heel kick, the finish was too. Close your eyes and listen to the noise and suddenly it could have been Camp Nou.
Scroll down to see how it all went with Sportsmail’s live runner.
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