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Lionel Messi inspired PSG to a stunning comeback in the game against Saint-Etienne despite going a goal down quite early. They eventually went on to win the match 3-1 with Messi securing a hat-trick of assists.
Lionel Messi’s PSG career might have begun on a dull note. Despite a U-turn in his contractual proceedings with Barcelona and PSG signing him in the summer, Messi failed to make an impact in Ligue 1 from the word go.
Lionel Messi made his debut for the Parisian club, coming on as a second-half substitute in the 0-2 win over Reims. Niggles and injuries made it difficult for him to begin life in France with a bang. He had to wait until September 29 to score his first goal for a club not named Barcelona.
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When the goal arrived against Manchester City in the Champions League, it proved to be marvelous. He also went on to record goal contributions against RB Leipzig, scoring a brace in front of the home crowd at Parc des Princes.
Lionel Messi scored his first Ligue 1 goal against Nantes
However, Lionel Messi didn’t have a Ligue 1 goal to his name until last week. Against Nantes, he embarked on a superb run and then coolly finished the move off from outside the box with a swerving shot to fool the opposition goalkeeper.
Despite being underwhelming over the last couple of months, the Argentine remains among the hot favorites to win the Ballon d’ Or.
By this point, almost every football fan is aware of the fact that there’s more to Lionel Messi’s game than just goals.
Besides being a prolific scorer, Messi is also one of the greatest playmakers of all time. He has been dropping deeper to see more of the ball with every season and he ends up setting up plenty of chances for his team-mates.
This play-making ability was on full display against Saint-Etienne, where Messi helped PSG secure a stellar comeback win.
The six-time Ballon d’Or winner went on to register a hat-trick of assists. Curiously enough, this was the fifth time he achieved this milestone in his glorious football career.
Without further ado, let’s discuss the games in which Lionel Messi provided a hat-trick of assists to his team-mates:
#5 Levante vs Barcelona, Copa del Rey, 2014
This was Lionel Messi’s 400th appearance for Barcelona and he celebrated the occasion in style. Messi provided three assists for the first time in his professional football career.
The Argentine found gaps in the Levante defence with deadly accuracy and he provided two through balls and a lobbed ball from right to left.
All the passes were meant for Cristian Tello who was breaking into the first-team of Barcelona back then. Tello grabbed a simple hat-trick with Messi being the provider on each occasion.
Notably, the score was level at 1-1 before Messi weaved his magic wand and turned the game around.
#4 Argentina vs Paraguay, Copa America, 2015
While the lazy narrative suggests that Lionel Messi underperforms with the Argentine national team, those misconceptions were put to rest with the Copa America victory this summer.
Led by Messi, Argentina defeated Brazil 1-0 in the final at Maracana to lift their first trophy in 28 years.
However, this wasn’t the first time Messi had appeared in a Copa America final. He was instrumental in the Albiceleste teams that reached the final of the continental competition in 2007, 2015 and 2016. But Argentina ended up falling short on all three occasions.
Lionel Messi was rampant in the 2015 Copa America which was held in Chile. In fact, in the semi-final against Paraguay, Messi set up Marcos Rojo’s opener from a free-kick. He then provided the final passes from which Javier Pastore and Gonzalo Higuain scored to seal a monumental 6-1 victory.
#3 Barcelona vs Getafe, La Liga, 2016
With Lionel Messi, Suarez and Neymar at the peak of their powers, there was virtually no stopping Barcelona between 2015 and 2016. The Catalan club blew away any and every opposition who came their way.
The chemistry between the trio extended beyond the pitch as they ended up becoming close friends. On it, they seemed almost hypnotic and proved to be a nightmare for defenders.
Although Luis Suarez didn’t start the game against Getafe, the duo of Lionel Messi and Neymar proved to be enough as Barcelona put six goals past the opposition defence.
Lionel Messi set up the Munir’s headed goal with a deft pass and then provided two brilliant assists for Neymar to take his assist tally to three once again.
Oh, and Lionel Messi had also scored in that match. Brutal.
#2 Real Betis vs Barcelona, La Liga, 2020
The game against Real Betis at the Estadio Benito Villamarin proved to be a difficult encounter. Barcelona went behind in the game twice. Not only did they manage to restore parity on both occasions, but they also went on to win the game 3-2.
As expected, Lionel Messi had a massive role to play with yet another hat-trick of assists.
The first goal arrived from a slick move when Clement Lenglet found Frenkie de Jong with a line-breaking pass. De Jong broke free from his markers and powered his way through before passing the ball to the Barcelona captain.
Lionel Messi cut inside and lobbed the ball to De Jong who had continued on his run and the Dutch midfielder made no mistake.
The next two goals arrived from dead-ball situations. Lionel Messi’s free kick towards the end of half-time fell kindly in the box for Sergio Busquets, who finished the chance with aplomb.
The Argentine then assisted Clement Lenglet’s header towards the end of the game with yet another free kick to seal a statement victory for Barcelona.
#1 Saint Etienne vs PSG, Ligue 1, 2021
There was considerable build-up to the game as Real Madrid legend Sergio Ramos made his much-anticipated Paris Saint-Germain debut. However, it turned out to be his former Barcelona rival Lionel Messi who ended up stealing the show.
Saint Etienne dealt PSG a crushing blow when they opened the scoring inside 23 minutes. However, just before half-time, the home side had to see Timothee Kolodziejczak receive his marching orders after controversially bringing down Kylian Mbappe.
Lionel Messi took the resulting free kick and PSG got back on level terms through captain Marquinhos’ superb header.
The Ligue 1 table-toppers then went ahead when Lionel Messi took two fabulous touches at the edge of the box and laid the ball gently down for Angel di Maria. The winger produced a spectacular finish with only 11 minutes remaining in the game.
Lionel Messi got his third assist in stoppage time thanks to another clinical header from Marquinhos at the end of his fabulous cross, thus putting the game to bed.
With this victory over Saint Etienne, PSG have already opened up a 12-point lead at the top of the table in Ligue 1.
