From our special correspondent at the Parc des Princes,
It’s past midnight, near the Parc des Princes, and a handful of supporters are still waiting outside the players’ car park, hoping for a little sign as the man of the evening passes. All the vehicles that come out have tinted windows, but that’s no big deal, the fans shout “Messiii, Messiiii” every time. There is indeed one in the lot who was to drive the Argentinian home.
The world champion was definitely the attraction of the evening, and we can say thank you because without him, this PSG-Angers already not very folichon on a freezing Wednesday evening in January would have turned into a purge. If the meeting was generally quite dull, the fault of Parisians who were probably a little too cold to take off their slippers before entering the field, Lionel Messi was up to the reunion, almost three weeks later. the long-awaited world title.
The club had decided not to organize a special ceremony before kick-off, believing, according to our colleagues from Le Parisien, that the guard of honor and the small trophy presented on his return to training were enough to mark the occasion. It was also whispered that we were a little afraid of the reception of the Park, devoted to Kylian Mbappé more than to the Argentinian – who has never made superhuman efforts either to put it in his pocket – and perhaps still be irritated by Emiliano Martinez’s stupid celebrations. But the public has proven that it knows how to make sense of things. We don’t disrespect the legend, everyone knows that.
Messi’s name was acclaimed when the Paris squad was first announced, one hour before kick-off, when the stadium was still three-quarters empty. It was even more so when the announcer repeated it around 8:50 p.m., even if we heard a few whistles behind the applause. “Thank you to the supporters, and congratulations to them for welcoming him like this. Believe me, it warms his heart, ”welcomed Christophe Galtier after the meeting. We want to believe it, even if the person concerned could have expressed it himself, for example by going to greet the public with his little comrades at the final whistle rather than going straight to the locker room. The only downside of the evening.
“He is calm”
But what mattered to the Parisian coach was the field, and from this point of view, he was admiring of the performance of his number 30. Difficult to do otherwise, as the latter was the only one to dazzle a meeting well sad. From the 5th minute, it was he, after a silky ball, who shifted Mukiele whose cross allowed Ekitike to open the scoring. 20 minutes from the end, he took care of everything, from a double outside ‘to start the action to a small dish of the unstoppable right foot to conclude it and bend the match. Between these two highlights, the Argentinian will have offered some sweets, such as this aerial one-touch pass in the first period to shift Mukiele, who this time did not know how to take advantage of it. Not to mention his super glue temperature control which made the rounds on Twitter.
For those who thought the Argentinian would come back backwards after winning the ultimate title of his career, it’s a miss. He was rather on the go, involved, inspired, despite his somewhat heavy legs after this lively break. “We have seen, surely, the best player in the world today, observed Galtier. He really wanted to play, he recovered well, he prepared well. Obviously, when Leo is on the pitch, things change, enormously. He seems soothed, light, having won the trophy he was missing. But he also really wanted to be quickly reconnected with the game, with the competition, and he had a great game. »
Reunion with Mbappé this Thursday
Same feeling on the side of Nordi Mukiele, the only Parisian to have stopped to chat with us a bit in the mixed zone. Very happy to have delivered a decisive pass to his illustrious teammate, the right side also noted this feeling of fullness that emanates from him. “I feel good, happy to be here. It was already before the World Cup, and there even more. Having a happy Leo is a very good thing for the team, because he will help us for this second part of the season. »
There is plenty to do indeed, between the championship where Lens and OM will be on the lookout for the slightest misstep, and especially the Champions League. The round of 16 first leg against Bayern Munich will happen very quickly, and seeing Messi already at this level is obviously good news. The Argentinian, decisive 27 times in 20 games with PSG (13 achievements, 14 assists), is on the basis of a season in his Barcelona standards. But for him like all the others, the counters will be reset in February. By then, Messi will have gone through other reunions, necessarily a little special, with Kylian Mbappé. After ten days of vacation, the French resumed training on Wednesday at Camp des Loges.