Lionel Messi started and played 74 minutes in the leader and defending champion of French football, Paris Saint-Germain, who thrashed Auxerre 5-0, at home, in the last Ligue 1 game before the break for the Qatar World Cup 2022.
The captain of the “Albiceleste” participated in the first goal of the French Kylian Mbappé, 11 minutes into the first half, and was close to scoring a goal in the second half but his shot crashed into the post.
At 29 minutes of the second half, and already with the score 3-0 due to the goals of the Spanish Carlos Soler (6m. ST) and the Moroccan Achraf Hakimi (12m. ST), the coach Christophe Galtier decided to remove the Rosario who was replaced by Pablo Sarabia
The Argentine crack sat next to the Brazilian Neymar on the bench and a few minutes later he went directly to the locker room.
Immediately afterwards, at 36′ the Portuguese Renato Sanches made it 4-0 and then the youthful Hugo Ekitike scored 5-0, at 39′.
⏹ FINAL! Great victory for PSG at home. What a nice way to close the year! ✋
Now yes: World moment. ? #PSGAJA 5️⃣:0️⃣ pic.twitter.com/jZPUZ9UBqK
– Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_espanol) November 13, 2022
In a game that the locals easily resolved, Messi had an important role in the goal that opened the scoring as he gave a great pass to the Portuguese Nuno Mendes, who then assisted Mbappé.
Already in the second half, the man from Rosario, who will play his fifth World Cup, had a shot that hit the post, 20 minutes into the second half.
Messi, 35, had been protected in the previous match against Lorient due to an inflammation in the Achilles tendon that manifested itself after the commitment against Juventus of Italy, on November 2, for the European Champions League.
After Sunday’s commitment, he will travel to Abu Dhabi to join the Argentine team that will play a friendly against the United Arab Emirates, prior to the debut in Qatar 2022 against Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday 22 at 7:00 at the Lusail Stadium.
In his second season at PSG, Messi played 13 of the first 15 league games and contributed 7 goals and 10 assists. At this stage, number 30 has already surpassed the 6 goals he scored in his first season.
In addition, the former Barcelona was in five of the six matches in the group stage of the European Champions League with 4 goals and the same number of assists.
Paris Saint Germain finished the first stage of the tournament as leader and undefeated with 41 pointsfive ahead of Lens.
The program of the 15th. This Sunday’s date is as follows:
Brest-Troyes (11.00), Lille-Angers (11.00), Montpellier-Reims (11.00); Nantes-Ajaccio (11.00); Racing Strasbourg-Loriente (13.05, Star+) and Monaco-Olympique de Marseille (16.45, Star+).
Recorded results:
Friday: Olympique Lyon 1-Nice 1.
Saturday: Lens 2-Clermont 1 and Rennes 2 – Toulouse 1.
Sunday: PSG 5- Auxerre 0.
Positions: PSG 41 points; Lens 36; Rennes 31; Olympique de Marseille, Monaco and Lorient 27; Lille 23; Lyon 21; Nice 20; Clermont 19; Reims and Toulouse 16; Troyes 14; Montpellier and Auxerre 13; Nice 12; Ajaccio 11; Racing Strasbourg and Brest 10; Angers 8.
