JAKARTA - Lionel Messi's sharpness on the gridiron seems to be starting to be questioned. A new example was when Paris Saint-Germain lost 1-3 to Real Madrid in the second leg of the Champions League last 16, Thursday morning WIB.
In that match, there was no significant contribution from Messi to PSG. In fact, he played as a starter in the match that took place at the Santiago Bernabeu.
He not only failed to score goals, but also failed to provide assists in this match. The goal scored by Kylian Mbappe in the 39th minute was the result of a pass from Neymar.
In this match, Messi also made only three attempts to score. Of the three shots he made, two were not on target and one shot was blocked by a Madrid player.
This extends Messi's bad record when he met Real Madrid. In nine meetings with Los Blancos, according to data from Squawka, Messi has not been able to score goals or assists.
Two of those nine matches were when Messi was in PSG's uniform. The rest, when he was still playing for Barcelona.
Messi actually has the opportunity to improve the bad report card against Madrid in the first leg then. However, Messi's chance to score through the penalty spot was denied by Thibaut Courtois.
Meanwhile, Messi's failure to lead PSG to the quarter-finals also tarnished his work in the Champions League. This is the second time in a row the Argentine has been eliminated in the round of 16.
Last season, while still in Barcelona's uniform, Messi was also stuck in the last 16 of the Champions League.
In the match against Madrid, PSG actually took the lead first thanks to Mbappe's goal. But after that, Madrid could actually turn things around thanks to Karim Benzema's hat-trick in the 61st, 76' and 78' minutes.
The final score of 3-1 for Madrid's victory practically made PSG eliminated from the round of 16 because Lionel Messi and his friends lost 2-3 on aggregate.
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