Paris Saint-Germain’s surge-from-behind 3-1 win over AS Saint-Étienne encouragingly revealed the sizzling chemistry that’s already brewing between Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé.
34-year-old Messi was not only clinical, but ever the decisive playmaker, in providing the two assists on the two goals by his French strike-mate. Although he didn’t manage to score himself, he was the accomplished facilitator for Mbappé and this outing shows Messi having his best Ligue 1 match for the Argentine.
During a segment on Téléfoot (via Paris Fans), French football pundit Bixente Lizarazu lauded the two players’ scintillating performances from this past weekend, with the pundit also stating that Mbappé is showing definite progress in his game and no longer aiming to go one-on-one with rival defenders.
“There is a real progression, especially this season in particular, even if he has already had exceptional periods. Maybe last year, he was a bit overemphasizing one-on-one, one-on-two dribbling. He was not selfless enough. There he is,” Lizarazu said.
“We saw him with his center from the outside of the foot, his technical quality. It has a rich palette. He is consistently aggressive; you can tell he wants to win every time. He gets PSG out of a difficult situation in matches that are a little closed. He is a totally indispensable player at Paris Saint-Germain. Losing it would be an industrial disaster.”
Lizarazu then elaborated on the adaptation he now sees coming from Messi and how his qualities as a creative playmaker are beginning to show clearly.
“We are excessive with Messi. I think we shouldn’t forget, even if it’s Messi, that there is a period of adaptation. It takes at least six months. Messi is 20 years at Barça, a city, a club, habits, the game which was also centered on him. He’s at a new club, he’s got new partners, and he’s been slow to get back to his best,” Lizarazu said.
“I think its adaptation needs to be done. And we have to find the best Messi. Against Saint-Etienne, we found his technical finesse and his qualities more as a passer than a scorer. That’s what’s missing today, even though he has scored five Champions League goals.”
PSG are of course increasingly hopeful that the budding chemistry between these juggernauts at the Parc des Princes can carry over to next week’s match against Real Madrid when the capital club travels to the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium with a 1-0 advantage heading hopefully into the quarterfinals.