Leo Messi I don’t really want to remember the last time he played against Bayern Munich. It was in the middle of the Corona epidemic, when the stadiums were empty, and Barcelona, where he played at the time, looked horrible and terrible.
It happened at Benfica’s stadium in Lisbon on August 14, 2020. Hanzi Flick’s Bayern had no mercy on Barca that evening and defeated them 2:8. Yes, Messi was then on the pitch and was a part of Barca’s heaviest and most humiliating loss ever in the European Cups.
Less than a year later, Messi was no longer in Barcelona. He moved to Paris Saint-Germain to start the new chapter in his career. Tonight (22:00, 5SPORT) he will meet Bayern for the eighth time, and maybe the penultimate one. The rematch will take place in Munich in three weeks.
So it’s true, Messi has quite a few losses against the Bavarian luxury team, but also quite a few victories. Three to be exact. In two of them he scored doubles. In the first meeting against them, on April 8, 2009, he scored a brace on the way to winning the Champions League.
He scored another double on May 6, 2015, when Barcelona beat Pep Guardiola’s team 0:3 in the semi-finals at Camp Nou. What Messi did that evening to German brakeman Jerome Boateng no one can forget. By the way, in 2015, Messi got to lift the champions trophy for the last time in his career, and almost 8 years have passed since then.
A lot of things have happened in Messi’s life and career since then. He had two more children, he left Barcelona and moved to Paris, and of course, won the World Cup two months ago. At the age of 35 and a half, Leo Messi apparently reached his resting place. He achieved everything that can be achieved, and after winning in Qatar, you will hardly find people who would disagree that he is the greatest footballer in history. Even most Argentinians who are deeply in love with Maradona already agree to this.
Messi and the people around him – mainly family members of course – have not yet decided what the next step will be. Immediately after returning from Qatar, rumors spread that Lau would extend his contract at PSG. in another year. Beyond the two years he signed last summer. But in the last few days the rumors are growing that at the end of the season and at the end of the contract he will leave the city of lights.
where? This is another question. A return to Barcelona does not seem to be on the agenda, although Barca fans fantasize. The relationship with President Laforte has been completely severed and Xavi is building a young and successful team, and as strange as it may sound, he doesn’t really need Messi at the moment. Inter Miami is a reasonable option, and the Saudi option also exists. Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabia has whetted the appetite of the country’s other big teams.
But despite all the talk, rumors and headlines, what is most interesting to Messi right now is succeeding with Paris Saint-Germain. He is still a player in the team, he is still committed to it, and it has to be said: he is having an excellent season, unlike last season in which he had trouble acclimating and especially saw how hard it was for his family, so he was also off the field.
This season is a completely different story. In 25 games in PSG uniforms. He has 15 goals and 14 assists this season. In the Champions League, he scored 4 goals and set up another 4. And it’s not just the numbers, but also the general ability. Bottom line, Messi loves playing football more than anything else, and he does it better than anyone else, when he himself is calm and the people close to him are happy. We saw it in the World Cup, when he talked more than once about his wife and three sons, and how much they are an inspiration to him and how important his relationship with them is.
Also tonight, the wife Antonella, and the sons Matteo, Thiago and Ciro will sit in their private cabin in the Parc de France and cheer on dad on the lawn. And when Lew looks up and sees them smiling at him, he won’t think about money, contracts and certainly not about his next team. He will play against Bayern Munich as he has always played: to score, to cook, to win.
