Lionel Messi at PSG: Goals, assists, results & fixtures in 2021-22

FT Desk

• Updated: 31 Jul 2022 21:49 BST
• 12 min read

Lionel Messi has been a PSG player for a full season now so we can catalogue the few highs and quite a number of lows for the Argentina superstar.

The soccer legend stunned the entire sport last summer, when La Liga rules made it impossible for Barca to renew the player’s contract and as such Messi was forced to move to PSG on a Bosman transfer.

Lionel Messi at PSG: Goals, assists, results & fixtures in 2022-23

So, how well is the forward doing at his new club?

Messi made his PSG debut as a second-half substitute against Reims on August 29, 2021, and it was a quiet beginning as his new team eased to a 2-0 win.

The 34-year-old was then handed his first PSG start in the Champions League trip to Brugge on September 15, his side suffering frustration in a disappointing 1-1 draw where he did not score.

Messi struggled in his opening weeks as a PSG player and it took almost a month after his debut for him to score his first goal for the club.

The star finally came to life on the biggest of stages when he played a vital role in beating Manchester City and his former coach Pep Guardiola in the Champions League, with a remarkable strike in a 2-0 victory.

Messi then suffered his first defeat as a PSG player in the 2-0 defeat to Rennes before shining again in the Champions League with two goals in a hard-fought and dramatic 3-2 victory over Leipzig in the Champions League.

Messi experienced his first taste of Le Classique when PSG travelled to play rivals Marseille but was still unable to score his first Ligue 1 goal of the season as the game finished 0-0.

It took until November 20 for Messi to finally claim his all-important first goal in Ligue 1 for PSG with a tremendous strike late on in a 3-1 home victory over Nantes.

The return game against Man City in the Champions League group did not go as well as the one in Paris for Messi as PSG fell to a 2-1 defeat. The club did qualify for the last 16, though, albeit as runners-up.

Messi bounced back immediately when domestic action returned with a trip to Saint Etienne the following Sunday. Messi delivered three assists in a 3-1 victory, setting up all of PSG's goals. He had not previously registered an assist in Ligue 1.

It was just the third time Messi has assisted three goals in a single league game in his club career. He had previously done so just twice with Barcelona (versus Getafe in 2012 and against Real Betis in 2020).

Messi took his tally in the Champions League to five goals in the group stages with a double in PSG's 4-1 win over Club Brugge. This included a tremendous long-range shot. The Parisians were subsequently drawn against Real Madrid in the last-16.

But Messi's final four Ligue 1 matches of 2021 were rather disappointing with no goals and just one assist as PSG managed only one league win in December.

This ended a rather underwhelming first-half to the season at PSG with Messi, certainly domestically. Five of Messi's six PSG goals in 2021 came in the Champions League, with just one in Ligue 1, though all four of his assists arrived in domestic competition.

Messi missed the start of 2022 after contracting COVID during the winter break. He missed the matches against Vannes in the Coupe de France and versus Lyon and Brest in Ligue 1.

He made his first appearance of the year on January 23 as a 64th minute sub in the big win ove Reims.

His long run without a goal continued in the Coupe de France as he and his PSG colleagues were knocked out after a penalty shootout following a scoreless draw against Nice. Messi did, at least, score his spot kick.

Messi finally scored his first goal of 2022 on February 6 during the 5-1 victory at Lille. He also assisted Prisnel Kimpembe's goal.

The little magician then struck again in PSG's next league game, when he set up Kylia Mbappe to bag a last-minute winner against Stade Rennes.

Messi couldn't keep up that good run of form in the Champions League, when he missed a penalty and was relatively quiet despite his side beating Real Madrid 1-0.

The following weekend, PSG endured something of a hangover as they were defeated 3-1 by Nantes, yet Messi made it three Ligue 1 matches in succession in which he claimed an assist by setting up Neymar for his side's consolation goal.

Most recently, the Argentine superstar recorded another two assists in PSG's 3-1 comeback victory against Saint Etienne.

His run of assists was ended in a 1-0 defeat to Nice, in which he did not have Kylian Mbappe to combine with. It was the third match in succession against that opponent that PSG had failed to score against.

The biggest disappointment of the season for Messi and his teammates arrived on March 9 as they were eliminated from the Champions League. Despite being 2-0 up on aggregate after Kylian Mbappe's second goal in the tie in Madrid, PSG crumbled in the last half-hour to lose 3-1 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate.

Messi was subsequently booed throughout his next game as PSG fans took out their frustration of this exit on both the Argentine and Neymar. PSG won the game 3-0 against Bordeaux but Messi again didn't score.

The Argentine sat out the 3-0 loss at Monaco but returned after the March international break to score his third Ligue 1 goal of the season in the 5-1 thrashing of Lorient.

He continued a bright spell of form away to Clermont in the following match. PSG ran out easy 6-1 winners in that encounter, and though Messi did not score, he produced a hat-trick of assists for the second time in Ligue 1 this season. The Argentine was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet himself as he had a goal disallowed for offside.

He was next in action as PSG defeated bitter rivals Marseille in Le Classique but missed the 3-0 win over Angers due to injury.

PSG claimed the Ligue 1 title after a 1-1 draw versus Lens, and it was a goal from Messi that ultimately clinched the championship. It was one of the goals of the season, too, with a long-range strike being whipped high into the top left corner.

PSG had nothing left to play for after clinching the title and drew their next two games, 3-3 and 2-2 with Strasbourg and Troyes, respectively. Messi hit blanks.

However, in the club's final away match of the season, which was a trip to out-of-form Montpellier, he rediscovered his scoring touch, in large part thanks to Mbappe. Twice he was set up by the World Cup winner, once after a one-two, then again with a brilliant cross.

In the final match of the Ligue 1 campaign, Messi registered an assist in PSG's 5-0 win over Metz, rounding off an underwhelming debut season in France.

This page will be regularly updated to showcase Messi's individual club statistics for PSG throughout the season after his big transfer.

Lionel Messi: 2021-22 stats

Appearances: 34

Starts: 32

Goals: 11

Assists: 14

Messi: Matches played

Reims 0-2 PSG, August 29 – Ligue 1

Minutes played: 24

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

PSG 4-0 Clermont Foot, September 11 – Ligue 1

Minutes played: 0

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

Club Brugge 1-1 PSG, September 15 – Champions League

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

PSG 2-1 Lyon, September 19 – Ligue 1

Minutes played: 76

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

Metz 1-2 PSG, September 19 – Ligue 1

Minutes played: 0

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

PSG 2-0 Montpellier, September 25 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 0

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

PSG 2-0 Manchester City, September 28 - Champions League

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 1

Assists: 0

Rennes 2-0 PSG, October 3 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

PSG 2-1 Angers, October 15 – Ligue 1

Minutes played: 0

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

PSG 3-2 Leipzig, October 19 - Champions League

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 2

Assists: 0

Marseille 0-0 PSG, October 24 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

PSG 2-1 Lille, October 29 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 45

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

Leipzig 2-2 PSG, November 3 - Champions League

Minutes played: 0

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

Bordeaux 1-3 PSG, November 6 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 0

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

PSG 3-1 Nantes, November 20 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 1

Assists: 0

Man City 2-1 PSG, November 24 - Champions League

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

Saint Etienne 1-3 PSG, November 28 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 3

PSG 0-0 Nice, December 1 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

Lens 1-1 PSG, December 4 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

PSG 4-1 Club Brugge, December 7 - Champions League

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 2

Assists: 0

PSG 2-0 Monaco, December 12 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 1

Feignies 0-3 PSG, December 19 - Coupe de France

Minutes played: 0

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

Lorient 1-1 PSG, December 22 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

Vannes 0-4 PSG, January 3 - Coupe de France

Minutes played: 0

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

Lyon 1-1 PSG, January 9 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 0

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

PSG 2-0 Brest, January 15 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 0

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

PSG 4-0 Reims, January 23 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 26

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

PSG 0-0 Nice (5-6 on pens), January 31 - Coupe de France

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

Lille 1-5 PSG, February 6 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 1

Assists: 1

PSG 1-0 Rennes, February 13 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 1

PSG v Real Madrid, February 15 - Champions League

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

Nantes 3-1 PSG, February 20 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 1

PSG 3-1 Saint Etienne, February 26 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 2

Nice 1-0 PSG, March 5 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

Real Madrid 3-1 PSG, March 9 - Champions League

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

PSG 3-0 Bordeaux, March 13 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

Monaco 3-0 PSG, March 20 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 0

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

PSG 5-1 Lorient, April 3 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 1

Assists: 0

Clermont Foot 1-6 PSG, April 10 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 3

PSG 2-1 Marseille, April 17 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

Angers 0-3 PSG, April 20 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 0

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

PSG 1-1 Lens, April 23 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 1

Assists: 0

Strasbourg 3-3 PSG, April 29 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

PSG 2-2 Troyes, May 8 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

Montpellier 0-4 PSG, May 14 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 2

Assists: 0

PSG 5-0 Metz, May 21 - Ligue 1

Minutes played: 90

Goals: 0

Assists: 1

PSG's remaining fixture

PSG v Metz, May 21 - Ligue 1

Lionel Messi 2020-21 stats

What proved to be Messi’s final season at Barcelona ended with him winning one trophy, the Copa del Rey.

Messi scored twice in a 4-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in the final, but it was Atletico Madrid and his former team-mate Luis Suarez who triumphed over Real Madrid and Barca in La Liga.

In the Champions League, Messi’s future employers PSG ended Barca’s hopes in the last-16 stage with a 5-2 aggregate victory.

The Argentina forward scored in both legs, including a stunning goal in Paris, but also missed a penalty in that second leg. Kylian Mbappe netted a famous hat-trick in the Camp Nou game.

Individually, Messi topped the scoring charts in Spain with 30 goals and struck 38 times from 47 appearances in total across all competitions.

That was seven more goals than he had managed in 2019/20, though still short of the peak numbers he had previously produced at Camp Nou.