The Group D match in the UEFA Champions League between Paris Saint Germain and Israeli club Maccabi Haifa on Tuesday saw PSG star Lionel Messi scoring two top-drawer goals and also lending an assist. Kylian Mbappe also scored two goals and Neymar Jr scored one as PSG won the match seven goals to two at full time.
Messi’s first goal came in the 19th minute as he curled it past the goalkeeper with a trivela shot following a pass inside the box from Mbappe.
Also read: Champions League: Leipzig beat Real Madrid, Messi inspires PSG to 7-2 victory over Maccabi Haifa
Watch the goal here.
His second goal came in the 44th minute after a brilliant one-to-one with Mbappe leading to a shot from outside the box that eluded the goalkeepers’ judgment and curled past into the net.
Watch it here.
Overall, it was a dominant performance from Messi and co as they easily swept pass the Israeli team. While each of Messi, Neymar and Mbappe scored in the match, a Sean Goldberg own goal, and later a Carlos Soler goal took PSG’s goal count to seven.
The two goals for Maccabi Haifa was scored by Abdoulaye Aeck – the Senegalese footballer.
With this win, PSG are now confirmed for the Round of 16 stages with one match to spare. They are currently seating on top of Group H, followed by Benfica in second place.
Also read: France Football president Pascal Ferré: ‘the Ballon d’Or is Messi and Messi is the Ballon d’Or’
Group H also saw a big upset today as Italian giants Juventus exited the Champions League by finishing third. They lost 4-3 to Benfica in a thrilling end-to-end contest at the Portuguese club’s home ground Estadio da Luz.
Juventus will now be competing in the UEFA Europa League along with Barcelona, Arsenal, and Manchester United. Although Europa League is a lower-tier competition in Europe, the presence of big teams will also make it quite attractive to the viewers.
