Paris Saint-Germain’s come from behind 3-1 win over AS Saint-Étienne showed the budding chemistry between Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé.
The 34-year-old provided the two assists on the two goals by the France international. Despite not scoring, becoming the facilitator for Mbappé saw Messi have his best Ligue 1 match for the Argentine.
During a segment on Téléfoot (via Paris Fans), French football pundit Bixente Lizarazu applauds the two players’ performances from this past weekend. The pundit stated that Mbappé is progressing in his game and not looking to take on a defender one-on-one.
“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 discusses the adaptation he sees from Messi and how his qualities as a creator are beginning to show.
“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 is hopeful that the budding chemistry between these two 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 as they have one leg in the quarterfinals.
