• The farewell Messi, between tears: "This year I was not prepared to leave. I was convinced that I would continue"

  • Messi presentation, presented with PSG: "It will be strange to go home with another shirt"

The day had to come when

Leo Messi

showed the world that no love is eternal. It has been 21 years since, at the hand of his father, he left Rosario for Barcelona to become the best footballer on the planet. Three weeks since the crying left him speechless before being greeted as a head of state in Paris. And in Reims, a place where legends from another time such as

Raymond Kopa

or

Just Fontaine

lived

, Messi finally closed an era. And he opened another. His debut with PSG at the age of 34 is already football history. His hug to Neymar, timely relief. And that same number 30 with which he debuted with Barcelona in October 2004. As if the past served as an inspiration for what is coming now.

Messi played the last 25 minutes.

His position, as it happened in Barcelona, ​​was impossible to define.

Although he started as a false center forward with

Di María

on his right and

Mbappé

on his left, he was so eager to find himself with the ball that he was fed up looking for it in the middle.

Messi discovered several things.

That in Ligue 1, if the ball passes, the footballer does not pass.

A kick and a grab was taken when he tried to combine with Mbappé, who tried to entertain the Rosario with an assist that did not arrive.

He tried once more already in the twilight, but the result was the same.

Messi had not played a game since he won the Copa América in Maracana on July 11.

That day, the Rosario also cried.

Without knowing that the hug with Neymar after lifting his first great title with Argentina would have continuity.

Even if it was with PSG and in Reims.

At that time, Messi believed that the contract agreed by

Joan Laporta

with Jorge, the patriarch, would allow him to continue at Barcelona.

Although the parties knew that those figures were unaffordable for a club in ruins.

After a dozen training sessions and after agreeing with his new coach,

Mauricio Pochettino

, on a physical rehabilitation plan, Messi had to settle for watching the first 65 minutes from the bench.

As was customary during his long career as a Barça player, Messi did not know how to place his hands.

Where to put your feet, freer with your boots untied.

He had no choice but to seek conversation with another of his compatriots in this new stage,

Leandro Paredes

, squire at the bank.

Although Spanish

Ander Herrera

, a substitute despite his good manners at the start of the season,

also signed up for the talks

.

Playing in this galactic PSG is nothing short of a feat for footballers without glitter.

Connection with Mbappé

Sheltered behind his mask, Messi was sensed a smile when he saw Mbappé score the first goal of the game behind the center of another of his great friends, Di María.

La Pulga

didn't even come out

to warm up at halftime. He just bided his time. Like those 22,000 spectators who sold out the legendary Auguste Delaune stadium, where not so many people had been seen since a match against Olympique de Marseille in 2012. More than 150 journalists were accredited, while in Spain

Gerard Piqué

saw the business as always . After acquiring the rights to Ligue 1 together with his company Kosmos, he offered the broadcast through the Twitch channel of

streamer

Ibai Llanos

. A specific agreement with Telecinco allowed the premiere of Messi to be seen on conventional television.

The expectation grew even more when the fans saw how Messi ran around the band in the 55th minute. The restlessness to get out at once was coming to an end.

Even more so after seeing how

Óscar García's

Reims

canceled the tie for offside.

Messi did not even see how the former Madrid player

Achraf

, another of the great PSG signings, assisted Mbappé in the 0-2.

The Rosario was just waiting to see what Pochettino pointed out on the blackboard before finally sending him to the garden.

Messi did not score.

Did not assist.

Nor did he leave any moves to remember.

What difference does it make.

Seeing it embedded in the PSG shirt was enough.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • sports

  • League 1

  • Leo Messi

  • Neymar

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