Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti had quite a performance in his team’s key Ligue 1 win over Reims in late January. The Italian midfielder snapped his goal drought as he bagged a pair of goals en route to a 4-0 win by PSG.
In speaking to L’Equipe, Verratti revealed that Lionel Messi advised him a day before the match to be more assertive in taking on shot attempts.
“The day before my two goals against Reims, Messi said to me: ‘Tomorrow you promise me, you’ll hit and score,'” Verratti said. “He told me that because in training I had hit once and scored. So I hit and scored. Yes, I can hit. But that’s the way I am. What can I say, we all have faults.”
Unlike several other midfielders on PSG’s roster, Verratti has much shied away from taking shot attempts on a match-by-match basis. Through 13 games played in Ligue 1 so far this season, he has averaged a 0.4 shots per match average. But in PSG’s key win over Reims last month, the veteran midfielder notched a pair of shot attempts and finished with two goals scored, one of them which was assisted by Messi.
Overall, Verratti sits at three goal contributions so far in league play this season, which include the one-assist showing in PSG’s 5-1 win over Lille OSC.
