In absence of goals, Messi gets marks as assistant: He enabled Mbappé for PSG’s heartbreaking win against Brest

Even with the fresh memory of their elimination in the round of 16 of the Champions LeagueHe Paris Saint-Germain He returned this Saturday to sign a mediocre performance and had to be bailed out by kylian mbappethe punctual one and with the assistance of the Argentine Lionel Messiscored 2-1 to blend in with a win over Brest the problems of his team, which is marching calmly towards the Ligue 1 title by falling behind 11 points of his Olympique de Marseille escort.

Messi, mobile and involved throughout the Parisian attack front, delivered a lethal first touch on the counterattack which was crowned by dribbling French forward goalkeeper Marco Bizot. The problem, like many other times, is that the ball is given to him in positions where the Rosary cannot be transcendent.

Sometimes surrounded by many rivals, other times without being able to organize the match, the 35-year-old world champion must be able to have clear chances. As soon as two precise shots on goal had the ’30’both in the second half: first he rolls goalkeeper Bizot and then his attacking left foot from inside the area goes wide.

May his comrades not help him, he told himself? Read this: in the first half there was a free-kick in the crescent of the ideal area for the left-footed ‘Pulce’. The Brest goalkeeper set up the barrier and, suddenly, two local players came down on the posts, which led to the PSG team invading the area from six meters as there was no possible offside.

Messi stood up to score, of course. His punch, as we know, knows no degree of difficulty. But what Rosario didn’t count on is that the Italian Marco Verratti – who lost the decisive ball against Bayern Munich last Wednesday – would get in the way of his shot. All an indicator.

In the week of (new) speculation about his future, the Argentine striker has shown that he wants to change the image of the team, even if they have barely remained in attempts and short periods. He has almost always tried to associate with Mbappé. Indeed, this is how the first goal of the Parisians arrived: Messi brought together three rivals and released for the captain who took a vibrant shot that complicated the goalkeeper with a long rebound, capitalized by Charles Soler. The Spaniard had already booked with his right foot to the crossbar in which the ‘Pulce’ enabled him with a header.

Until then Brest had only defended themselves, but little by little they were encouraged to exploit the other half of the pitch and expose all the defensive problems that PSG have. A couple of tepid announcements were the prelude to the equalizer, just before the break, with a barbaric shot of Roman Castle to operate at full power Franck Honorat between Ramos and Pembelé, who closes with a left footed corner. big goal.

PSG had another 45 minutes to restore their lackluster performances and show a healthier picture. His legs were still heavy from the Munich debacle and he wasn’t reacting. He also came very close to hitting another bad trip, but Lilian Brassier’s header missed the goal.

Timidly and almost out of obligation, he seemed to push the Parisian team, but he didn’t count on Bizot. The Brest goalkeeper took those two already counted shots from Messi and was saved by the wrong aim of Mbappé, who missed the target in a set shot that didn’t give a hard time.

But the famous hierarchy that is often used to mark technical and tactical differences in all sports has also appeared in the westernmost tip of French Brittany. In the 89th minute, three touches are enough for PSG to go from area to area: Nuno Mendes finds the trajectory for Messi, who with the first touch and almost from behind sees the perfect diagonal from Mbappé who runs alone, dribbles Bizot and defines the empty arc .

This is the 300th pass-goal at club level for the 35-year-old from Rosario, who also accumulates 353 at all levels and is the highest in history, too, in that area. The 800th goal will have to wait, the third – next Sunday against Rennes at the Parque de los Príncipes – will be the charm or will you wait to try to do it with the Argentine national team in the first friendlies as a world champion?