Paris Saint-Germain are the current Champions League holders and among the favorites to win the Club World Cup in the coming weeks. But despite the fact that the French side was a competition for the world's best team and won 4-0 in the last 16 in the United States, it was not the team of Luis Enrique who drawn all the attention on the field.
PSG has set their advantage by two goals from Joao Neves, a goal of Tomas Aviles and an Achraf Hakimi effort before the break and was able to get their foot off the gas in their last collision in the United States. But comes the last whistle, they were players from the capital of France who seemed to express their appreciation.
Lionel Messi was unable to prevent his former team from walking away with the victory against his Inter Miami side, but found PSG's stars all of which came to greet him. Of course, the Argentina legend has a relationship with many who only left the Parc des Princes two years ago.
But the combination of friendly relationships and outright admiration was clearly in warm hugs and conversations in the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Atalanta, Georgia.
Messi registered 32 goals and 35 assists in 75 performances for PSG, but was unable to inspire the Champions League glory that reached the current harvest of stars. The Messi family tree did not happen, most obvious on the field for what he had achieved throughout his career, because many of PSG's side made sure they shared a moment with the former Barcelona star.
Leading balloon d'Ordedering Ousmane Dembele posted photos of the shirts of Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba before adding a shot with Messi's full kit and boots accompanied by an emoji with stars in his eyes.
The French International then posted a photo of Messi and himself in the stadium and left people behind no illusion of his respect for the reducing legend. “Good to see again @leomessi, the biggest of all time. I hope you continue to write history with the @intermiamicf like in this world club,” Dembele said.
And Dembele was not the only one tribute to Messi, in addition to placing an image. Gianluigi Donnarumma said, “Always a pleasure to see old friends.”
Lucas Hernandez placed an image of their meeting on the field with a simple message: “Legend.” And Khvicha Kvaratskhelia placed an image of their handmat after the game and said, “Sharing the field with you was a true pleasure!”
And although not everyone directly placed a caption about Messi, few avoided to share photos of him. Lucas Beraldo, for example, shared an aerial photo of the pair and said: “On the quarterfinals! Excellent match against a team of fantastic players. Allez, @psg !!”
PSG is then confronted with Bayern Munich in the quarter -finals of the Club World Cup, while Palmeiras compete against Chelsea on the other side of the draw. Real Madrid Face Juventus, Inter Milan Play Fluminense, Manchester City Battl against Al Hilal and Dortmund compete against Monterrey in the remaining last 16 luminaires.