Kylian Mbappe could not hide his admiration and happiness when he saw his teammate from Argentina shine at the last minute to bring the home team to victory.
Mbappe hugged and lifted Lionel Messi after his teammate successfully scored a 4-3 victory over Lille in the 24th round of Ligue last weekend.
Everything at PSG right now could be very different if the Argentina captain did not shine. After 3 consecutive defeats in all competitions, the Parisian team is in danger of throwing the whole season away. The duo Luis Campos and Christophe Galtier are in danger of being fired if PSG do not win Lille.
Until Mbappe scored the equalizer in the 87th minute, that prospect appeared before PSG’s sporting director, Mr. Campos. At the end of the game, when PSG were leading 2-3, the Portuguese expert even rushed to the touchline to shout and direct the team, which rarely happens in his football career.
Not only Mr. Campos and the PSG coaching staff burst with the goal of Messi’s comeback, Mbappe also rushed to hug and lift the 37-year-old superstar. The French striker played the game brilliantly with a brace of goals, including a beautiful solo at the start of the first half, but it was Messi who created the brightest moment.
Rescue moment
Messi stood alone in front of the direct free kick in the 90+5 minute. PSG didn’t even need to use any other players to create fake moves to deceive the Lille defense. Everyone knew Leo would be the one to do it. And only the player wearing the number 30 shirt of PSG is capable of creating such a moment of ecstasy when the clock of the game has passed to the last moments.
Goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier revealed his mischief, as he inched a few steps towards the center of goal before Messi took the free-kick. Lille’s keeper wanted to catch the Argentine superstar when he predicted that Leo would shoot over the fence to the right corner of the goal.
Chevalier will probably regret it when Messi decides to kick the kick in the opposite direction. Chevalier’s early movements hurt the goalkeeper in that ball.
However, it should also be remembered that Messi put the ball on the edge of the post and flew straight into the net. Lille’s goalkeeper simply succumbed to the shining moment of a superstar, who has won seven Ballon d’Or and just won the World Cup.
Messi scored his 62nd career free kick goal, becoming the first player in European football to score from direct free kicks (not counting penalties) in 16 consecutive years. The striker born in 1987 continues to affirm his excellence in the ability to perform fixed situations.
At the end of 2011, Cristiano Ronaldo scored 30 goals from free kicks in his career, Messi only had 4. After more than a decade, Leo (61 goals) has now surpassed CR7 (57) in the number of goals from career direct free kick.
Since the 2015/16 season, Messi has scored 28 goals from free kicks, more than any other player in the same period (counted in the top 5 European leagues). Even the closest person to follow Messi, James Ward-Prowse (Southampton), the best free kick expert in England at the moment, has only scored 17 goals.
The focus of the Champions League
Mbappe scored a brace against Lille and was PSG’s best attacking star in the whole match. However, the French striker has never scored from the penalty spot in injury time like the way Leo did. The striker born in 1998 still has a long way to go and Messi is still a big mountain that he has to overcome in terms of personal achievements.
Mbappe has yet to win the Ballon d’Or or the Champions League in his career. He will need more last minute shining moments like his teammate from Argentina. Mbappe’s tight hug and lift of Messi shows joy and admiration from the 24-year-old striker.
The past two weeks, PSG have experienced their most difficult time since the beginning of the season. They were eliminated from the French Cup, lost weakly to rival AS Monaco and suffered a disadvantage after the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League. Everyone knows that the European arena is the most important goal of PSG this season. If the French capital team is eliminated early from the Champions League right from the round of 16, their season will almost be over, just like last year.
Messi’s golden goal temporarily quells rumors that Campos Sports Director or coach Galtier may be fired. Internal conflicts in the PSG dressing room may subside after the victory over Lille. Mbappe and his teammates will have time to calm down to prepare for the rematch with Bayern Munich in more than 2 weeks.
At that time, the PSG people will again look to Leo’s moments of genius.
