Lionel Messi is back. The Argentine has been heavily criticised this season for his form at Paris Saint-Germain even though his numbers have been far from poor, although admittedly they’ve not been to the extraterrestrial level that we’ve been accustomed to seeing from him. But he’s beginning to hit a rich vein of form and getting back to his best.
No other player from across Europe’s top five leagues has assisted more goals than the 34-year-old so far in 2022 and he provided two more on Sunday evening when PSG beat Saint-Etienne 3-1 in Ligue 1. One of them was sensational; the former Barcelona man picked the ball up on the right side before dropping his shoulder, cutting inside and threading a delicious through ball to Kylian Mbappe, who finished coolly.
After the final whistle, Messi was filmed turning around to Saint-Etienne right-back Falaye Sacko and asking to exchange shirts with him. It must have been an incredible moment for the 26-year-old, who joined Saint-Etienne from Vitoria Guimaraes on loan until the end of the season during the January transfer window. He’s earned 31 caps for Mali.
Que Messi te pida tu camiseta. Top del surrealismo.pic.twitter.com/Z365to5Sff
— Ricardo Torres (@FantasiaFutbol) February 28, 2022
Not really. Sacko seems nonchalant about it.