In predictable fashion, Lionel Messi scored a beauty on his first start for Paris Saint-Germain since last month's World Cup heroics – and fan footage of the goal is going viral.
The 35-year-old made his highly-anticipated return to Paris last week after the most deserved 10-day break in history.
On his arrival at Les Parisiens' training base, Messi received a guard of honour from his teammates before being handed a gold-plated award to commemorate last month's World Cup triumph.
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A week later and PSG manager Christophe Galtier decided it was time to give him some minutes in their Ligue 1 clash against Angers.
It took the French champions just five minutes to open the scoring, with summer signing Hugo Ekitike finishing off a great team move that included the returning Messi, of course.
And despite not being at his scintillating best for large spells, Argentina's main man secured all three points when he doubled PSG's lead with 17 minutes remaining.
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As you can see in the fan footage below, Messi drops deep to start the play. Then, after a neat one-two with Neymar, he delivers a wonderful outside-of-the-boot pass to Sergio Ramos.
Messi continues to run through the Angers defence when Nordi Mukiele delivers a pinpoint pass to the Argentine, who converts with ease. How good is this?
One fan commented on the clip, saying: "The fact that he's always involved in the build up is what baffles me," while another wrote: "His movement off the ball is out of this world."
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A third said: "This guy makes football look so simple."
He may have notched his 13th goal of the season for PSG on Wednesday night, but Messi “completely wasted” his first season at Paris Saint-Germain following his departure from Barcelona, according to Jerome Rothen.
That's right. He may have scored 11 times and registered 15 assists in 34 appearances but former PSG player Rothen pulled no punches in his assessment of Messi's first season in Ligue 1.
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“He has been at PSG for a year and a half and the first year was completely wasted,” he told RMC Sport. “I don’t mind there being a time to adapt, but Leo Messi is the best player in the game planet.
“For these players, the adaptation is supposed to be shorter. For me, his attitude for a year was too far like Neymar and that’s why there was a lot of criticism on them.”
Thoughts on Messi's goal against Angers?
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Topics: Lionel Messi, Paris Saint-Germain, Ligue 1, Argentina
Jack Kenmare