All the vices that are currently modern are considered virtues, Molière already knew. Century became so famous as a comedian that a monument is dedicated to him in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. And didn’t it have comedic traits when Lionel Messi transformed in the almost final scene of the Champions League game between Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City?
The referee decreed a free kick in favor of Manchester City, and Messi did what has recently become fashionable in world football. He lay down behind the wall that had been formed by his taller teammates; so that they can jump up without having to fear that the shooter will shoot the ball under the barrier and duped them and the goalkeeper. Marcelo Brozovic’s low service already seemed unworthy, the Croatian was the one who made fashion known in Europe in 2018, when he played like an in a game between Inter Milan and FC Barcelona – a free kick from Messi, of all things Crocodile put behind a free kick wall.
Brozovic, okay. But Messi at the sward level? The god-like glorified world footballer in the dirt?
It was like hanging a real Renoir on the urinal of a battered brasserie. But it really was. Messi lay down as if in the last few seconds of the game, which ended in a 2-0 win for PSG, he symbolized what his coach Mauricio Pochettino would later say: that “everyone had put on overalls”, divas included. And all that after he had renewed his myth – and with a grand and ingenious gesture had taken possession of his new home and decorated the Prince’s Park Stadium in Paris with “a jewel”, as the newspaper said L’Équipe wrote on Wednesday.
“I wanted to finally score,” said Messi after scoring his first goal in the PSG shirt, as if he had not redone his own art, but had just scored a disgusting blow. Just as the poet (according to Molière) has a passion for performing his works, Messi cannot avoid playing football to perfection. In the 74th minute – and that means: when the lead achieved early by Idrissa Gana Gueye (7th) wobbled here and there – Messi took the ball at the center line and stormed towards the opposing goal until he found a partner for Kylian Mbappé spotted a one-two in the penalty area. The Frenchman put the ball down with a heel kick that was more elegant than the models in the Parisian tailoring district Sentier, and after Messi pulled from 16 meters, the ball flew under the crossbar under the horrified gaze of the frozen city goalkeeper Ederson. The stadium raged, Messi, who had been expelled in Barcelona, laughed with relief as if he had read Molière (“new love loosens old bonds”) and even his new coach Pochettino lost his composure.
Messi even makes the opposing coach rave
“I normally don’t cheer when my team scores,” said Pochettino later, “but I’ve seen his goals often enough from the pavement across the street. How should I not cheer for myself when he scored his first goal?” City coach Pep Guardiola also raved, despite the defeat, in the style of a tidy ex-lover. “He has made me happy so many times in the four years we have worked together (at FC Barcelona) – if he can enjoy his time in Paris, I will be happy too,” said the Catalan.
Guardiola’s true affection that evening was for PSG’s defensive midfielder Marco Verratti, who helped Paris stagger but not go under. As befits Paris, Guardiola fell in love: “I’m in love”, he said of Verratti and was clearly annoyed that his Belgian genius Kevin De Bruyne had failed to disturb the Italian more aggressively. Guardiola was overall satisfied with the performance of his team, which is now in Group A of the Champions League behind PSG and Bruges and ahead of Leipzig in third place in the table.
Because: City had dominated and let the ball run well through their own ranks and had some great chances. But PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was on the alert or with luck in league or both. Especially in the first half, when City hit the crossbar twice in one scene, first through Raheem Sterling and then through Bernardo Silva.
And Messi? After the game, stepped in front of the microphone of the broadcasting TV station and indulged, again freely according to Molière, not in splayed speeches, but with off-the-peg comments. “This was a very important win against a great rival and that was important after the Bruges draw,” said Messi. “It was only my second game at home, I’m slowly integrating, my adaptation is progressing,” he said. L’Équipe came up with the headline “Liberé (s)” on Wednesday, meaning “liberated” in singular and plural. Because it was coined on Messi, who adorned the front page, but with the separated “S” also on Mbappé and Neymar, who are the most expensive storm trio in the world and are still in the process of finding out.
On Wednesday night, Neymar posted a photo on a social network in which he stands arm in arm with Messi and Mbappé, and which should also serve to deny the rumors of internal upheavals. “I hope I don’t have to meet you too soon,” wrote former PSG captain Thiago Silva, who now plays for Chelsea, “may God save me from that,” he added. “Just take it easy,” Neymar wrote back to his friend with loud laughing emojis, “we’re not yet meshing.” But Tuesday evening also proved that they are well on their way to finding each other, despite all prophecies of doom.