With the acquisition of Lionel Messi, Paris Saint-Germain looks like a complete superteam. With so many great players come extraordinary high expectations they must win everything or it’s a failure.
Throughout sports across the world superteams have won championships. The Golden State Warriors won two NBA Finals in three years because they had two top-five players in the NBA in Steph Curry and Kevin Durant. Arguably, PSG has three top-five players in European football. A more comparable team would be the Real Madrid Galacticos 2nd era in which they won four Champions League titles. As long as PSG has no significant injuries or chemistry issues they should dominate football.
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Any team would take one player of the calibre of PSG’s front three. It seems impossible for teams to stop a front three of Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe from scoring. A great centre-back with the help of his teammates can take one out but not the other two. That was the case when PSG played Manchester City. Ruben Dias did his best to contain Mbappe. Although Manchester City won it should be noted Mbappe did not play in the decisive second leg. Messi joining PSG could determine Mbappe’s future. Mbappe could stay if they win back to back Champions League. Before Messi’s arrival, there was speculation Mbappe could make a move to Real Madrid. The entire team is stacked, not just the front three.
One area of concern for the French side is their goalkeepers because Gianluigi Donnarumma and Keylor Navas are used to starting regularly. Whoever does not start in the big games will be disappointed. Navas has the experience and resumes with three Champions League titles. Donnaruma just came off a Euro title with Italy and he was a huge factor in their shootout win over England. It should be noted Italy was the best team in the tournament from start to end. Not only does PSG have the best player in the game in Messi they also have the best centre-back of all time in Sergio Ramos.
In a weird second-world scenario Ramos and Messi are now teammates after being rivals in La Liga. The partnership of Ramos and Marquinhos fits perfectly because both play with emotion. Messi has experience playing with Angel Di Maria and Leandro Paredes on the Argentina national team. Playing with them at PSG will benefit PSG and Argentina chances in Qatar because they play together more frequently.Â
Mbappe’s Ego Could Disrupt Superteam
The worst-case scenario is PSG only wins one Champions League and it’s similar to Real Madrid’s first Galactico era. Despite assembling a team of Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, David Beckham. Michael Owen and Sergio Ramos won one Champions League. A disappointment with all the world-class players they had. Mbappe’s ego might be a reason PSG does not win the Champions League. Rudy Galetti has reported Mbappe has refused to renew with PSG and wants to go to Real Madrid. Real Madrid is offering 150 million euros. The French international wants to be the man on the team. That would not be the case for PSG with Messi’s arrival and their own acquisitions. It seems Mbappe would rather be the focal point rather than win multiple trophies at PSG. If PSG holds on to Mbappe until next season it could cost them a Champions League title. In the best-case scenario, they accept Real Madrid’s offer and they try to win it without him.
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