Lionel Messi joined Paris Saint-Germain in the summer window when his contract with Barcelona expired and it became clear the Catalan club, fallen upon hard times, couldn’t afford to renew it.
The Argentine is considered by many to be the greatest player to have ever played the game so his departure from Barcelona and arrival in France caused quite the stir.
Things haven’t worked out exactly how he would have expected. He hasn’t played badly; he’s provided two goals and nine assists in Ligue 1 as well as five goals in the Champions League.
But he hasn’t led the team and dazzled as he was expected to. Neither has Neymar Junior, his old teammate from Barcelona. The man proving most decisive for PSG has been Kylian Mbappe, most notably in last week’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid.
Mbappe scored a late, late winner to set up a tantalising second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu on March ninth. Speaking in comments carried by Marca, Messi spoke about the relationship he enjoys with his teammates as well as how he finds playing at the Parc des Princes after an entire career at Camp Nou.
“I know [Angel] di Maria and Ney from before,” he said. “I didn’t know Kylian but little by little we’ve gotten to know each other and try to connect better on the pitch, to get more comfortable with each other. I was lucky to be with the best at Barcelona and I am at PSG too. I’m happy and I want to continue doing it.
“[The Parc des Princes] is a very special stadium because of how people experience it, they’re constantly signing. I had already experienced when I came before [with Barcelona] but to have it every second weekend is nice. You feel the atmosphere, they don’t stop singing for a single minute, they explode when there’s a goal. It’s a stadium that makes a lot of noise.”