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Credit: Disclosure / PSG
At PSG, Lionel Messi has considerably reduced his numbers compared to what he had in Barcelona days. Amid injuries and adaptation, there is another reason that explains the low number of goals: the Argentine leads in Europe in terms of balls on the post in the 2021/22 season.
In PSG’s 2-2 draw against Troyes, Messi again hit a ball on the ‘post’. According to information from the newspaper ‘Olé’, from Argentina, shirt 30 has already hit the post 10 times throughout the season, which puts him at the top of the big leagues in Europe in this regard. What’s more, that number hadn’t been reached since 2006/07 in the Ligue 1.
Overall, Messi’s early season at Paris Saint-Germain points to a tendency to be a waiter rather than a goalscorer. In all, he has 13 assists and nine goals, five of them in the Champions League. Kylian Mbappé has been the protagonist in numbers at PSG: 35 balls in the net and 19 passes on goal; he has a contract until June this year and will still define his future, with Real Madrid as a possibility.
Close to 35 years old, Messi has one more season on his contract at PSG. He was booed by the crowd and coach Mauricio Pochettino defended him in an interview recently: “Judging Messi at this moment is unfair. We can’t talk about Messi like that. It’s like talking about Maradona. We’re not talking about just any athlete. The next season will be completely different for him,” he said.
Messi receives grade 4 from French newspaper
The traditional French newspaper ‘L’Equipe’ did not spare the Argentine from criticism and gave it a 4 for his performance in the French Championship.
“How can a player of his size have so much technical waste? He lacks precision, timing in his passes. His last choices are rarely good. An influence still so limited in the end”, fired L’Equipe about Messi.
