Admit it, you were still holding out hope that Lionel Messi would somehow find his way back to FC Barcelona, and that everything that had taken place in the past week, the tearful goodbyes, the flood of social media messages, was some carefully-orchestrated attempt to pressure La Liga into allowing Messi to continue at the only club he had ever played for.
Unless, that is, you are a Paris Saint-Germain fan. In that case, the past week has felt like a dream, with Tuesday the day that dream became reality.
Everyone who was still in denial about Messi’s looming departure from the Camp Nou was hit with a powerful dose of reality on Tuesday morning, when Messi traveled to Paris to finalize the deal, and emerged from a window sporting a shirt with Paris written on it, providing the first undeniable image that his move to PSG was a foregone conclusion.
That moment when the Lionel Messi to PSG deal became one Barcelona fans couldn’t keep pretending wasn’t happening (even after L’Equipe broke the news).pic.twitter.com/JJS2JPMUcn
— Ives Galarcep (@SoccerByIves) August 10, 2021
The financial disaster at Barcelona has forced Messi to seek a new home, and he has joined up with old friend Neymar on a stacked PSG side that was already considered a strong Champions League favorite even before the best player in the world joined the party.
Now, with Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe (and Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Achraf Hakimi, etc., etc.) PSG has the look of a team that could dominate Europe, at least for how long PSG can keep the dream team together.
Messi’s PSG move is a blockbuster that has some purists disgusted at the state of the game, while many casual fans are excited about the potential magic they could be treated to by one of the most impressive collections of talent the soccer world has ever seen assembled.
Meanwhile, Barcelona is left to pick up the pieces, with its fans waking up to a new reality that consists of the lack lacking a true superstar for the first time in two decades. Ansu Fati could still be special when he finally returns to full health, and Pedri is emerging as potential legitimate heir to the midfield throne left vacant since Xavi and Iniesta left, but the upcoming season feels like it will be a futile march through mediocrity, at least by Barcelona’s lofty standards, as the club tries to repair its financial devastation.
Now the pressure will be on Messi and PSG to live up to the expectation of winning every single trophy on offer, and as much as the idea of a super team isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, having a team for fans around the world to either root for, or against, will make things interesting.
PSG still has to come together as a team, and Mauricio Pochettino must make all the pieces fit while fellow European giants such as Manchester City, Chelsea and Bayern Munich prepare to take aim at what looks to be an unstoppable force.
Of course, we have seen star-studded teams built before, and it didn’t always guarantee success, but what is clear is that PSG will be must-see TV this season, as Messi chases trophies in a new uniform, playing alongside his old friend Neymar, while Barcelona fans pray to the soccer gods for a new star to emerge to fill the Grand Canyon-sized void left by Messi’s departure.
What do you think of Messi’s move to PSG? Love it? Hate it? Wish there was a way for him to stay at Barcelona? Excited to see what a Messi-Neymar-Mbappe trio can do?
Share your thoughts below.
I wouldn’t say a superteam is born more like a superteam is bought. Don’t like PSG won’t like PSG respect Messi but asking to like them is a bit much. C’est mierda!
The problem isn’t PSG signing Messi. THe problem is Barcelona is a complete financial disaster. It’s not PSG’s fault Barcelona’s wage bill this coming year was going to be 110% of its revenue. WTF
No other business in the world could be run like that.
PSG just built the 2003-2004 LA Lakers. Nothing but downside on the table for this team.
Many Barca fans are sad to see Messi the person leave but happy Messi the player move on. He is certainly not the same player he was yet wouldn’t drop into a play maker role. He took every PK, every free kick and he blacked the emergence of new talent like Pedri, Fati, Dest. He was maybe the greatest player in history but he was no longer really helping the team and it’s future. This was a necessary though painful move for Barca.
Really, have you followed Messi’s career at all? From the very start he has been almost as much about being a playmaker as being a scorer. Over the last 8 seasons he has averaged a little over 13 assists per season.
Yes everyone gives him the ball all the time so his stats look good. Barca is ready to move on. I’ve watched him his whole career, including from Laporte’s personal box.
Europe is becoming all about oil shrieks and Russian oligarchs spending obscene money on top talent, and not about the local fans. Hats off to Germany for at least trying to put a cap on elite teams with billionaire owners. PSG probably wants to get into global marketing much like Barcelona.
Right? As much as I hated the idea of super-league… scapegoating rage pin-pointed at American owners as the lone source of selling out to capitalistic greed in the “Barklay’s Bank’s” Premiere League was pretty… laughable.
So about that “Financial Fair Play.” — wink, wink
Financial Fair Play was officially suspended due to COVID-19. Not that it was really meaningful at this point, anyway.
Given the negative state of some US fans (note the reaction by some of Sargent to Norwich), how long before some people start complaining that Dest made a mistake by going to a declining Barcelona? Games are won on the field, not on paper, so until they actually play, it’s too early to anoint PSG as champions of anything. Don’t forget that they didn’t even win their league last year.
There’s whispering of a Dest loan to AC Milan. Miiiiight not be such a bad thing. Might even learn a little bit about defense in that league.
PSG will still lose in the Champions League. An aging Messi, aging Ramos and one player who has never played up to his potential (Neymar) and another who is falling to Neymar’s level from loftier heights (Mbappe), PSG will still lose.
I’ll definitely be in the “anybody but PSG” camp. Hopefully we’ll get some beautiful football out of the deal, but it will probably be the opposite. Lots of coaches will just go in planning to rough them up.
I hope they get Mariah Carey to play midfield so it’s just a giant Diva bloodbath. Then I’ll watch.
the question/flaw in such models is you need some people there to do dirty work, end attacks, win balls, and also some team offense and defense concepts, not just an all star team. to be fair, starting with a semi team in UCL and 2d at home, they’re not far away. but their problem is more stopping City or Bayern and less their offense that had 86 goals in 38 league games, 13 goals in UCL group play. the 2 high GA teams from group play went out in the UCL semis. at a point it’s also about defense.
This Summer’s signings by PSG
Hakimi RB (Inter)
Pereira DM (Porto)
Ramos CB (Real Madrid)
Donnarumma GK (AC Milan)
Man, the French league just became even less competitive than it was. It was a miracle that PSG didn’t win the league last searon. No point in watching a league in which one team buys all the most expensive players available in the world and no other team within the league can compete financially.
French league was already that way. So are the Italian (spoiler alert, Juventus wins every year) and German (Bayern wins…) leagues. EPL is the only big league over there I find worth watching. Go Leicester!