Lionel Messi punctuated a title winning night for Paris Saint-Germain with an absolutely stunning strike against Lens on Saturday night.
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Messi moved to France last summer and in what many believe is a 'Farmer's League' he was expected to break all sorts of goalscoring records.
Instead it could be his worst league season as far as scoring goes since his debut year for Barcelona, in 2004/05, when he only made seven appearances.
He'd scored only three goals ahead of Saturday's game at home to Lens, where a draw would have secured the title for Mauricio Pochettino's side, after Marseille's comeback win over Nantes in midweek had delayed celebrations.
It took until the 68th minute of the game for the deadlock to be broken, and it was certainly worth the wait, as the seven time Ballon d'Or winner smashed home a brilliant finish from outside of the area, that even left Sergio Ramos stunned.
LIONEL. MESSI. 💥
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 23, 2022
If anyone was going to break the deadlock it would be him! Simply MAGNIFICENT! 💫
Is that the goal that wins the title? 🏆 pic.twitter.com/pLnw7ayffp
Sensational goal from Messi that should clinch the title for @PSG_English 👏🏻👏🏻 https://t.co/0hrP5ILdGo
— Gary Lineker 💙💛 (@GaryLineker) April 23, 2022
Most league goals from outside the box in Europe's top five divisions since 2017/18:
— Squawka (@Squawka) April 23, 2022
36 - Lionel Messi
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
19
18 - Dries Mertens
More Messi Madness™ pic.twitter.com/sgYQBwx62v
Messi's form has even seen him being booed by his own fans this season, and the goal against Lens was only his fourth in the league and ninth overall.
His passing has still been as good as it has in the past but, considering his previous worst goals return from a full league season was 10 in 2007/08, it's been a rubbish season by his lofty standards but also by anyone's earning his kind of money.
Whilst the goal didn't ensure all three points, as Lens equalised late on, it was enough for the Parisiens to capture the league title.
🔟 Titres
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) April 23, 2022
𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟔 - 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟒 - 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟑 - 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟒 - 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟓 - 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟔 - 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟖 - 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟗 - 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟎 - 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐
🔴 #𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗣𝟭𝟬𝗡𝗦 🔵 pic.twitter.com/5Btcym2hPg
The build up to the goal saw the involvement of both Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, a trio that the club would have been hoping would lead them to huge success this year.
However things haven't really gone to plan, despite the fact they'll be winning the French title back, after embarrassingly losing to Lille last year, despite their huge advantage in resources.

Losing in the Champions League last 16 to Real Madrid, thanks to Karim Benzema's hat-trick, is likely to mean the end of Pochettino's regin at the Parc des Princes.
They were also knocked out of the same stage of the Coup de France by Nice, when their own on loan goalkeeper saved two penalties in a shoot-out.
Featured Image Credit: BT Sport
Topics: Ligue 1, Lionel Messi, Paris Saint-Germain, France
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