⚠️ | QUICK STATLionel Messi successfully completed 11 dribbles against Lorient tonight – no other player across the top 5 European leagues completed more in a single league match this season.Still got it. 💨#FCLPSG pic.twitter.com/P534seGaVZ— Sofascore (@SofascoreINT) December 22, 2021 Should've had an assist too, but Di Maria with a shocking miss. Also has like six posts now on Ligue.
Everyone talks about PSG being underwhelming in attack but honestly they are just terrible finishing chances. Messi hasn't had his finishing touch, Neymar looked terrible in front of goal prior to his injury, Di Maria yesterday and in other matches was shocking and even Mbappe who scored a decent number of goals had several matches missing easy chances. Honestly Icardi has looked the most clinical and saved them points in a few matches. I just had a quick look at Understat. In all the games PSG dropped points in Ligue 1 this season... 0-2 loss @Rennes 1.40 xG, 0-0 draw @Marseille 2.05 xG, 0-0 draw vs. Nice 1.62 xG, 1-1 draw at Lens 2.29 xG, and 1-1 draw at Lorient 2.20 xG. In these five matches they collectively had 9.56 xG and scored just 2 goals. They faired much better in the CL but still subpar. In the games PSG dropped points... 1-1 draw at @Brugge 1.9 xG, 2-2 draw @Leipzig 2.7 xG and 1-2 loss @Man City 1.3 xG. That's 5.9 xG and scored just 4 goals. They can definitely still gain some more chemistry and fluidity in attack but their finishing just isn't up to par. With Messi 1 goal in 46 shots is just mindboggling. That has to regress back to the mean right...?
Good lob-pass from Ramos. What else can Messi possibly do to setup his team for a goal there though? What a miss, who was that?
From what I've seen, which granted isn't a lot, Mbappe seems to have stepped it up a notch this season. If he was the same Mbappe as previous years I wouldn't rate their chances of winning CL that high, but with him in this kind of form they could be the team to beat afterall. Then again, they clearly were second best in both matches against Man City. Neymar is now #3 in Paris though. He would have been King had he stayed at Barca but now not only is he in Messi's shadow (still) but also in Mbappe's. The dark side of the moon is jealous at how much shade Neymar gets.
Neymar is an injury prone and he is not consistent enough to play full season. Mbappe while missing many chances but he has stepped up quite many times. Messi now looks sharper than his past months.
Yeah, he was amazing in his prime. Wonder what happened when he became fat, and started getting constantly injured? He could become third in most dribbles in WC this year. Also only behind Messi in dribbles per game. Most successful dribbles in World Cup since WC66- (games) 110 Messi (19) 105 Maradona (21) 78 Jairzinho (16) 61 Kempes (18) 60 Hazard (11) 56 Robben (15)
True, I still rate his WC78 performance only behind Maradona WC86 and Messi WC14. Otherwise he was bit of a tool.
Scoring goals is hard when you're the one progressing the game. If you watch the other teams, they have midfielders progressing the game. PSG has Verratti, who is is needed for anykind of fluidity, but who is injured half the games.
Yep. However that comment was also meant to defend his performances. When people used to shit on him for not scoring and ignore the other contributions he had in the game. And now he has some poor games but if he scores a goal or two suddenly he is praised.
Also, seemed like he couldn't care less that they are out of the French cup based on his expression after the penalty miss. PSG can't do anything lately without Mbappe, which is a bit worrisome given the upcoming contest v LPB and the agreement b/w Mbappe and LPB.