Messi and Neymar Lead PSG to Trophy Win in Tel Aviv
On Sunday, the Tel Aviv Bloomfield Stadium saw Paris Saint Germain go up against Nantes in the French Champions Trophy and emerged victorious.
The former French Cup winner lost the game 4-0, as Lionel Messi kicked off the scoring, with Neymar landing the next two goals.
The goals
The record winner of the Ballon d’Or for seven times, Messi scored a goal midway through the game’s first half.
He was able to go past Alban Lafont, Nante’s goalkeeper after Neymar’s deflected pass, which saw him score with an excellent finish.
In the injury time of the first half, Neymar then found the top net corner with a free kick. This put Christopher Galtier’s team up by 2 goals at Bloomfield, where the game was being held for the second consecutive year.
The 57th minute of the game saw it scorecard change to 3-0, thanks to expert defender Sergio Ramos from close range.
In the 82nd minute, Jean-Charles Catelletto was sent off for fouling Neymar, who was able to land another goal with a penalty.
This marks the 9th time that the Champions Trophy has been claimed by PSG in 10 seasons, with the French club losing at the same venue last year 1-0 to Lille.
According to an organizer, there were 30,000 people who were present to watch the match.
No Mbappe
Since the Qatari takeover of PSG back in 2011, the club has seen seven different managers, including Galtier.
His appointment occurred in early July when he signed a two-year contract to replace Mauricio Pochettino.
Back in May, the club had had a protracted battle with Spanish club Real Madrid for Kylian Mbappe, which it managed to win.
However, the French star was not at hand for the first official match because he was suspended for the yellow cards in the previous season.
Instead, Mbappe was replaced in the attack by Pablo Sarabia, who had been on loan last term at Sporting Lisbon.
It was also the debut match for Vitinha, the Portuguese mid-fielder who has joined the club from Porto.
Three months ago, Galtier was defeated at the hands of Antoine Kombouare, but the Nantes coach was not able to defeat his former club in this match.
In 2021, it was Galtier who had guided Lille to victory against overwhelming odds and now he already has a trophy at PSG under his belt.
The Champions Trophy
It is rare for international games to be played in Israel, but the Champions Trophy has now been happening for two years.
This is all because of Sylvan Adams, the Jewish billionaire. On Saturday, the PSG team had a meeting with a humanitarian group called Save a Child’s Heart.
The Israeli nonprofit performs cardiac operations on kids globally. The players met with the children, posed for photos and also signed autographs.
Adams also had a meeting with the team during the event, who referred to Israel as a tolerant and safe country.
On Saturday, a pre-season friendly match between AS Roma and England’s Tottenham Hotspurs in Haifa, saw the former defeat the latter.
