Paris Saint-Germain will be welcoming Real Madrid to the Parc des Princes for their first leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 matchup against the Spanish club.
The capital club will be leaning on Lionel Messi for this tie. When PSG decided to bring the 34-year-old following his unexpected departure from FC Barcelona; however, Messi has struggled to adapt to French football, which is why a Spanish pundit calls this move a failure.
During a segment on Cadena Ser, pundit Frédéric Hermel called that Messi’s stint with Les Parisiens should be considered a flop at the moment. Nonetheless, Hermel adds that there’s the opportunity to change this, but it’s a failure for now.
“Perhaps he scores two goals against Madrid, and there is talk of something else, but Messi, at the moment, on February 11, is a failure at PSG,” Hermel said.
“He has been a media signing. Here people are surprised to see that Messi does not run, but they hadn’t seen him in Barcelona. It’s a different style than a roadrunner.”
Messi’s best performances with the French giants have come in the UEFA Champions League, so they hope that this trend continues. Furthermore, the Ligue 1 side wants to make another deep run in the competition, hoping to lift the trophy that has long eluded them.