Has Messi really been as "incredible" for PSG as Leonardo claims?

Stefan Bienkowski

• 20 Dec 2021 13:30 GMT
• 5 min read

Paris Saint-Germain sporting director Leonardo has defended Lionel Messi’s start to life at the French club, claiming that the Argentina international has been “incredible” since making the move to Paris.

Messi left Barcelona in the summer after La Liga rules stopped the Catalan side from offering their prized star a new contract.

As such, Messi then made the short trip north to play for PSG, where he has had an inconsistent start to life in the red and dark blue of his new club.

However, Leonardo has quickly rejected any suggestions that Messi has struggled in his new surroundings and believes the player has been pivotal for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

"Lionel Messi is indisputable for me," the PSG chief told Europe 1. "If you start to discuss Messi, it is because you did not understand anything about football. We can not doubt.

"If you look at Messi's numbers, his first six months are incredible. He and Kylian Mbappe have been involved in almost every club goal. He is defining and decisive.

"We haven't taken Messi to put on the show every game. With him, of course we are more competitive. He can decide every game."

How good has Messi been this season?

So far this season, Messi has been absolutely fine but it’s probably hard to suggest that he has been “incredible” for his new team.

In 15 appearances for the Parisian giants, Messi has bagged six goals and five assists - which works out at around 0.69 goals or assists per 90.

Intriguingly, the player seemed to find it much easier to adapt to his new club in the Champions League, where he has bagged five goals in five games.

Contrastingly, he has just one goal and five assists in 10 Ligue 1 games to date.

How does that compare to his career stats?

While Leonardo may be delighted with Messi’s form for PSG, there’s little doubt that the forward isn’t producing the kind of numbers that once made him the very best player in the world at Barcelona.

As the table above shows, Messi hit a peak of 1.46 goals or assists per 90 minutes for Barca in the 2018/19 season, but has seen his numbers consistently fall since then.

Indeed, Messi’s current form for this season is actually even worse than what he managed last season, when he was tasked with dragging a dysfunctional Barca side to another La Liga title race.

Messi may be doing enough for PSG at the moment, but he’s quite some distance away from the typical brilliance we expect from the Argentina international.