MESSI DIDN'T CELEBRATE MBAPPE's GOAL against REAL and 5 other things I noticed | PSG REAL MADRID

Hello everyone! Here comes the much-anticipated first leg between PSG and Real Madrid! Take your picks on the outcome of this duel! Who will be in the quarterfinals - Paris or Madrid? Well, today I will bring you together to discuss what you have seen. It was a hotly contested match after all, and you don't want to miss out on such a hotly contested affair - it's not every day that we get to see such high-profile fixtures!

Friends, you do remember that the away goal rule no longer applies, don't you? In case you have forgotten, Real Madrid, led by Carl Ancelotti, knew that perfectly well. It was, in principle, the basis on which they based their strategy for this match. Madrid decided to play with a low block, relying on quick attacks from Vinicius in the first instance. The trio of midfielders - Modrić, Casemiro, Cross - kept a close eye on Messi's movements and tried to stop the Argentine far from the approaches to the penalty box.

Wrote Jamie Carragher on Twitter.

What did such tactics lead to? The answer is quite obvious - it was PSG's total dominance on the pitch! This dominance was a revelation to most football experts, who were expecting a huge battle for midfield and possession. But Carlo Ancelotti was afraid to play the first game of the duel openly, and saved that plan for the second game, where there was already nothing to lose.

                              Those were the comments of the Real Madrid coach after the match.

The statistics, though shocking, were a complete reflection of the game. Paris were stronger in possession of the ball, 57% against 43%. PSG also outshot Real Madrid - 22 shots against 3, 8 shots on goal against 0! Indeed, this was not the match Real Madrid fans were expecting, as the Blancos had been called the favourites for this clash before the match. This game changed our opinion about the balance of power in this encounter. Even Madrid's loyal fans have little faith in their team.

Quotes Mijatović from the AS newspaper.

And now a question for the Real Madrid fans. Friends, do you still have hope for the return leg? Or are you sure that Ancelotti and his team will also fail in the return leg?

After the draw in December 2021, most football experts were of the opinion that Real Madrid would confidently beat PSG. But the closer the match date came, the less obvious this prediction was. Madrid are stuck in La Liga and regularly lose points. A Spanish Cup exit from Athletic also showed that Real Madrid are not displaying the kind of incredible level of play that will allow them to easily deal with the stellar Paris Saint-Germain. The closer the match came, the more problems Madrid found themselves in, chief among them injuries to Ferlan Mendy and Karim Benzema. Both had to be put back on their feet as a matter of urgency, breaking all deadlines. But that didn't help either. PSG had an IDEAL match, choosing a great game plan - possession, lightning-fast pressing after losses, Messi as a deep dispatcher and Mbappe's free role, more inclined to the left flank of the attack, where the Frenchman simply grinded Carvajal to a halt. Bottom line: PSG should have beaten Madrid more convincingly - certainly not by one goal!

Said Pochettino after the match.

And these are the words of a satisfied PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi.

As I said before, the 1-0 scoreline doesn't reflect the advantage Paris should have had! His majesty Thibaut Courtois is to blame! The goalkeeper who was destroyed by the Madrid media in his first season at the Santiago Bernabeu is now regarded as almost the best goalkeeper in the world! He was the one who dragged Real Madrid to the Parc de Prince! His €40m transfer fee from Chelsea is nothing at today's prices! Courtois made 9 saves per game, and in many ways it was thanks to him that Real Madrid Madrid didn't go to Spain with a full load. Certainly the best player in Ancelotti's squad that evening! Special kudos to Courtois for saving after a penalty kick from Lionel Messi. It turned out to be quite an easy task for the Belgian:

Said the Belgian footballer.

Ancelotti said after the game.

Donnarumma said on Sky Italia.

And many, many compliments to the inimitable Kylian Mbappe! Mbappe was PSG's killer weapon and rightly voted best player of the match: scoring a penalty, creating some killer chances, hauling away Carvajal and half the Madrid team, and finally - scoring a phenomenal solo goal! Afterwards everyone was saying "Mbappe is the best player in the world!" and "PSG is the team of CYLIAN Mbappe, not the team of Leo Messi or Neymar".
Indeed, Mbappe's departure next summer could be a real tragedy for the Paris Saint-Germain project, but right now Kylian is not even thinking about it:

Mbappe said after the game.

Messi was rated 3 out of 10 by L'Équipe for the game against Real Madrid, the worst score at PSG. And such sad results from Leo's play often come up after the Parisians' games. Yes, Messi created 5 goalscoring chances - a great result, but against Mbappe and even Neymar - the Argentine looked pale - perhaps we see the final transformation of Messi as a footballer - now he is a midfielder with the role of dispatcher - organizer of attacks - and to complete them - Leo simply does not have enough power anymore. "He's a shadow of himself", "At Barcelona we saw the real Messi", "Messi ended his career early, he's no longer top!" - how many of these comments did you encounter after the match....me in sufficient numbers! An unrealised penalty in a match like that is a good illustration of Messi's whole season at PSG - Leo is a bit lost in this team, they try to help him, but you can see by all that he is unhappy and he NEVER WANTED to leave BARCELONA. Journalist Maria Garrido drew attention to the fact that Messi rather calmly celebrated Mbappe's winning goal in the last minute. She was countered by publishing pictures of a smiling Leo, but the journalist rightly pointed out that Messi celebrated very differently in Barcelona - more enthusiastically, and his reaction was lightning-fast. Here's his celebration of the goal against Sevilla in last year's Spanish Cup - for comparison. There's something about that... Are you agree?

And these are all my observations on PSG and Real Madrid's top match! Thanks for reading!