Lionel Messi crowned for his PSG debut | OneFootball

Lionel Messi was hailed as the king of the evening in Reims - the City of Coronations - as he made his debut for Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday evening at Reims (2-0).

For several days, excitement reigned in the Reims area at the idea of being the scene of La Pulga's first steps in Ligue 1 Uber Eats. And the reception reserved for the superstar Argentine was equal to the enormous craze he generated. However, before the match, Leo Messi and the other Parisian substitutes did not warm up on the pitch as is the tradition, but in the dressing room, perhaps to remain impervious to the madness in the stands. Cheered by the public His name was pronounced last during the presentation of the teams and was cheered by a Stade Auguste-Delaune (20,525 spectators) packed for the occasion. And when he took his place on the bench, where he sat next to his compatriot Leandro Paredes, the fans behind him took out their cameras and phones to immortalise the moment. At half-time, he did not fail to smile at the fans but also at Neymar, his former teammate at Barcelona (2013-2017), whom he replaced on the hour mark. The clamour was amplified five minutes later when he came on as a substitute. It was a wink of fate that Kylian Mbappé, at the heart of an ultimately fruitless transfer saga between Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, completed his double (63rd) when the whole stadium had eyes only for Messi. Collector's edition

As soon as six-time Ballon D'Or winner Messi touched the ball, murmurs came from the stands. His first pass was with one touch, and fans had to wait until the 78th minute to seehis first run with the ball in a Parisian shirt: after intercepting the ball, he cut inside before feeding Mbappé on his right. The Frenchman broke into the box and sent a cross back towards his Argentinian teammate, but to no avail. The two stars looked for each other a lot on the pitch and often tried to combine, with another cross back from the Frenchman to the former Barcelona player in stoppage time (90th+2). The two players hugged each other after the final whistle before going with their team-mates to thank the hundreds of fans who had made the short journey from Paris. Several of the players tried to exchange shirts with Messi, but he politely declined. However, he agreed to pose for a collector's photo with Reims goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic's son in his arms. What a gift! >> Statattack Round 4: Messi's debut under the microscope