Messi debuts in a magical night in Paris

Leo Messi could not debut in a more brilliant way with PSG. He did it with a goal that he has been doing all his life and for which they have not yet found a potion. A shot in the front to the squad with a donut made the Parque de los Príncipes vibrate, which surrendered for a minute to the Argentine star chanting in unison. PSG beat Manchester City 2-0 in a very complete match for Pochettino's men, that at no time did he split and presented his candidacy for the Champions League, the one that resists him so much, but with players like Messi they are exponentially closer.

Pochettino has an obligation, as Ander Herrera said yesterday, very clear: to win the Champions League. Everything else will not matter if the Parisian team does not win the long-awaited European Cup in May. The coach knows it and, therefore, in today's game against City there were hardly any rotations. The message was very clear: we go with everything to win. Donnarumma played his first game in the Champions League, Messi returned to the rescue of the team after injury and Verratti, who had not played since September 5, also. Guardiola, for his part, also came out with all the available arsenal and with updates from Sterling and Mahrez regarding the team that firmly beat Chelsea on Saturday.

Pochettino's message was not a bluff from a poker game but a reality. PSG, as in their last three games against Lyon, Metz and Montpellier, struck first as soon as the match started. It was Idrissa Gueye, who has already scored five goals at the start of the season and has become, like Ander Herrera, one of the main scorers of a team full of stars and in which concrete and work are used to putting themselves at the service. from the stars and not above.

If the goal was a liberation for PSG, for City the opposite. Those of Guardiola, comfortably dominating the possession of the ball throughout the first half, took a long time to activate. Pochettino, knowing that the top three players hate defending, balanced the team with Ander Herrera and Gueye, both Achraf and Nuno's guardian angels every time Grealish and Mahrez received and both with unlimited oxygen cylinders. As the minutes passed, the Sky Blues took over the match, to such an extent that that exuberant PSG of the opening bars gradually evaporated as the minutes passed.

The Sky Blues, led by a great Rodri in midfield, had one of the clearest occasions of the night. A terse, but precise, center of De Bruyne with the outside was unheard of wasted by Sterling first with his head and by Bernardo Silva after an empty goal and with a practically beaten Donnarumma. The Sterling thing was a preview of what was to come, with a City moving the ball from side to side at almost uncontrollable speeds and with a PSG that asked for the rest. Cancelo tested Donnarumma with a mid-range shot that barely bothered the Italian goalkeeper, Ruben Dias again tested the Eurocup champion with a great header that Gigi brilliantly repelled and, before the break, two actions of technical subtlety by Mbappé, somewhat uncomfortable in the first half, they came close to giving PSG a higher income.

The second half started with a total monologue from City, which not only had possession, but was beginning to use it more aggressively to annoy a PSG whose three attackers continued to defend with their eyes. De Bruyne had the tie, but a wall called Donnarumma avoided it. Just when PSG was fading, the usual one appeared to certify the victory of his team. Messi could not debut in a better way with PSG. With a left-foot mark of the house in the front of the area, the Rosario broke the net and sealed a dream victory for PSG, which was redeemed from the draw in Bruges on the first day.