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After his heroics at the World Cup, Lionel Messi was greeted with a hero’s welcome upon his return to Paris Saint-Germain.
Despite his involvement in keeping France from winning the World Cup, Lionel Messi was greeted with a guard of honor and a trophy when he returned to the Paris Saint-Germain training facility.
Argentina won their third championship thanks to Messi, who led the team with seven goals and three assists in Qatar.
The 35-year-old scored twice in the thrilling championship match against France, which ended 3-3 during extra time, and added another goal in the 4-2 victory on penalties.
Given his significant role in deflating France’s dreams of winning back-to-back World Cups, there were worries that Messi might not be warmly welcomed back to his club team.
Messi returned to Paris at the beginning of January after being given a long period of leave to celebrate in Argentina.
Messi’s first game back for PSG will be a very low-key affair as they go to Châteauroux to play them in the French Cup this Friday. The Ligue 1 match against Angers on Wednesday will be his first opportunity to perform in front of a large audience at the Parc des Princes.
PSG obviously went all out for Messi’s return to training, even though his likely comeback to play may be unimpressive.
The playmaker is shown receiving a guard of honor from his teammates, coaches, and training center staff in a video shared by the club on Twitter.
Messi received a trophy for his accomplishment after entering the field to cheers. The happy atmosphere supports manager Christophe Galtier’s remarks, which allayed concerns about the PSG star receiving a hostile reception from French supporters.
Galtier said earlier this week that Messi will undoubtedly be popular at home.
“I have no doubt that he will be well received at Parc des Princes in terms of the greeting at the stadium.
He excelled in this World Cup, earning the most exquisite trophy. Above all, we must keep in mind what he has done for the team since the season’s beginning now that he has achieved this amazing goal.”
This season, Messi has contributed 12 goals and 14 assists in 19 games in all competitions for PSG. His return comes at a good time for PSG, as they lost on New Year’s Day for the first time since March.
They suffered a 3-1 loss to Lens, who moved just four points behind the French powerhouses in the Ligue 1 standings while Messi was still on vacation.
In sharp contrast to Kylian Mbappe, who returned to training right after France’s loss in Qatar but has since been given a vacation. Messi was given a two-week holiday by PSG.
