Lionel Messi, with a brace and, above all, a spectacular goal with his back to goal, and Neymar, with a goal and three assists, were the absolute stars of Paris Saint-Germain in the 5-0 win at Clermont, today on matchday one from Ligue 1.
In the absence of Kylian Mbappé due to injury, the two South American stars shone brightly.
Messi sealed the win with a goal to remember, controlling a long pass from his Argentine compatriot Leandro Paredes with his chest and finishing off with his back to the goal, to make it 5-0 in the 86th minute.
Shortly before, in the 80th minute, Messi had scored his first goal of the game and of this Ligue 1 by pushing at will a pass offered almost as a gift by Neymar.
It was the third assist in the game for the Brazilian, who signed his club’s first goal in this league just in the 9th minute, finishing off after Messi touched lightly on Pablo Sarabia’s cross.
Neymar then gave the decisive pass so that his Moroccan teammate Achraf Hakimi (26 ‘) beat the local goalkeeper, with a powerful shot in the area directly to the top corner, and then by hanging a ball that Sergio Ramos narrowly missed but the also Brazilian Marquinhos (38 ‘) headed directly to the goalkeeper Mory Diaw’s net.
With a three-goal lead at the break, the second half was very quiet for PSG, who sealed the win with Messi’s brace in the final minutes, which put a smile on the Argentine’s face, at the start of his second season in the French team.
Paris Saint-Germain, champions of Ligue 1 last season, thus become leaders of the standings from the start due to a better goal difference.
