The harmony between Argentine stars Lionel Messi and Brazilian Neymar brought back memories of their brilliance together in the ranks of Barcelona, as the two players gave new coach Christophe Galtier his first title with Paris Saint-Germain in the French Champions Cup (Super) at the expense of Nantes 4-0, by scoring three goals.
Messi opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, and Neymar added the second and fourth goals in the 45th and 82nd minutes, while Spaniard Sergio Ramos scored the third goal in the 57th minute.
Saint-Germain strengthened its record number of titles following raising it for the eleventh time, ahead of Lyon (8), Reims and Saint-Etienne (5), while Nantes owns three titles in 1965, 1999 and 2001.
The new coach of Saint-Germain, Christophe Galtier, made a promising start following he replaced Mauricio Pochettino at the end of last season, leading the team to its first title this season, as he bears high hopes for the team to win the Champions League following a long wait.
The Qatari-owned team missed the efforts of the suspended Mbappe, for obtaining three yellow cards in less than 10 matches at the end of last season ( once morest Monaco, Marseille and Montpellier).
Saint-Germain returned from Japan with three victories in the 3 matches he played in his preparatory round, at the expense of Kawasaki Frontale 2-1, Urawa Red Diamonds 3-0 and Gamba Osaka 6-2.
Neymar expressed that Messi is not required to prove anything to his critics, during the Argentine’s second season with Saint-Germain.
Messi missed his usual level during his first season with the French team, where he scored 11 goals in 34 games, knowing that he scored 38 goals for Barcelona in the previous season. But Messi made 14 goals, including ten goals, during 2022, and was only surpassed in that in the five major league competitions, except for Osman Dembele, who made 11 goals for Barcelona during 2022.
When asked if Messi’s performance was a new indicator with Saint-Germain, Neymar defended his colleague, saying: “I don’t think that is the case. I see that people talk too much. They do not know what is happening every day, and what is happening inside. Lionel is Lionel. Still Lionel Messi, that does not change. He continues to make a difference. He adapts, me, Lionel and Kylian (Mbappe) if we’re OK, I’m sure that’s good for the team.”
