Barcelona legend Lionel Messi came close to registering the greatest assist in PSG history during his side’s 2-1 defeat to Marseille on Wednesday.
Marseille hosted PSG for their round-of-16 French Cup clash at the Stade Velodrome and took the lead through an Alexis Sanchez penalty.
PSG fought back before half-time and found an equaliser after Sergio Ramos connected with Neymar’s cross and fired a bullet header into the Marseille net.
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However, Ukrainian midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi restored Marseille’s advantage early in the second half, as PSG crashed out of the French Cup in the last 16.
The likes of Messi, Neymar and Fabian Ruiz were criticised after footage emerged of them showing a lack of urgency when PSG were scrambling for an equaliser.
But Messi came close to ensuring that PSG had a last-chance equaliser against Marseille after he played in a sensational ball to teammate Ramos.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner collected the ball near the halfway line before pushing forward and identifying Ramos on the edge of the box.
Messi then floated in a sublime ball over the top of the Marseille defence, but Ramos was unable to bury the ball past either side of Pau Lopez in the 93rd minute.
Speaking after the defeat, PSG captain Marquinhos told beIN SPORTS (as per Canal Supporters): “We know that they do good pressing.
“We couldn’t get their line to jump. We made a few mistakes that cost us the goal. We need to be better organised. There’s no point adding more here.
“We know what we need to improve. You have to work. It’s a defeat that hurts. It’s a cup game against our great opponent.
“We wanted to come back to Paris with victory and qualification. Now you have to close your mouth, work and keep going forward.”
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Topics: Lionel Messi, Paris Saint-Germain, Marseille, Ligue 1, France
Adnan Riaz