"He's the man for the big occasion" - Former Manchester City midfielder praises Lionel Messi's Champions League heroics for PSG
PSG forward Lionel Messi scored a beautiful goal against Manchester City during their Champions League clash yesterday evening. Former City midfielder Owen Hargreaves has lavished praise on the Argentine, labeling him a big-game player.
"There was so much to like about this goal. I love the overlap from Hakimi there, making space. It's Messi all over," Hargreaves said on BT Sport.
Just look what his first PSG goal meant to Lionel Messi 🤩 https://t.co/l8pR06ULhV
"He would have been expecting it, he's the man for the big occasion. He always seems to score against Pep Guardiola teams for whatever reason.
"Today was the perfect performance from PSG. Once they got the first goal and the space opened up for Hakimi, with Messi being able to come inside and then Neymar and Mbappe are in there – it's going to be a thing of beauty.
"Today they got it right and with Messi on the end of things, he's going to score a tonne of goals there," Hargreaves added.
PSG produced a great response to their disappointing 1-1 draw with Club Brugge in their Champions League opener by beating Manchester City 2-0 yesterday evening. An early strike from Idrissa Gueye put the Parisians ahead before Lionel Messi stepped up and doubled the lead in the 74th minute.
FULL-TIME | Defeat in Paris.
🔵 2-0 ⚪️ #ManCity | mancity.com https://t.co/d5w0We5kfc
With that, the Argentine opened his account for PSG, having gone three games without finding the back of the net prior to yesterday's match. That will certainly take the pressure away from him and give him the confidence to score even more.
Can Lionel Messi lead PSG to Champions League success this season?
Following his first goal for PSG against Manchester City yesterday, all eyes will be on Lionel Messi to lead the French giants to Champions League success. It goes without saying that the Parisians signed Messi to boost their chances of winning the tournament. The attacker also admitted he'd love to claim the UCL title in Paris at his presentation.
With world-class superstars on every area of the pitch, PSG definitely have a squad that is capable of ruling Europe. The task will be on Pochettino to get his team fired up for the challenges ahead. If they play at their best, there'll be no stopping them this season. Will they go all the way? Only time will tell.