Sports
PHOTO: Emotional moment as Messi meets Mbappe in first PSG training
As football fans anticipate a destructive striking partnership between Lionel Messi and the star-studded Paris Saint-Germain squad, the Argentine met the fleet-footed Kylian Mbappe in training on Thursday.
In an unprecedented matchup, Mbappe and other PSG stars, especially, ex-Real Madrid skipper, Sergio Ramos, would forget their rivalry to team up with the six-time Ballon door winner who joined the Parisian club on Tuesday on a two-year deal.
Speaking at the press conference, the former Barcelona captain expressed excitement at the chance of playing alongside Mbappe and Neymar.
“To play alongside Mbappe and Neymar in attack is crazy, I’m really excited to get started,” Messi said.
Mbappe welcomed the Argentina skipper with a hug as seen in one of the photos shared by the Frenchman on Twitter.
The former Monaco man whose Twitter avatar bares a picture of Messi’s idol, the late Diego Maradona, wrote, “Welcome to Paris, Léo.”
In one of the photos, Mbappe and Messi could be seen sharing smiles and hugs.
Although Mbappe missed the March 2017 heartbreaking clash where Barcelona overturned a 4-0 deficit to knock out the French side 6-5 on aggregate in the Round of 16 of the Champions League, the Frenchman played a crucial role in the vengeful match years later.
Mbappe’s hattrick at the Camp Nou helped PSG to a sweet 5-2 revenge in the last 16 of the UCL last season.
Both players have also faced off at the 2018 World Cup second-round game which saw Mbappe score two goals for eventual winners, France, to prevent Messi’s Argentina from reaching the quarter-finals.
Parisian fans await their first match together and would hope that Mbappe remains at the club as he is currently linked with a move to Real Madrid.
However, PSG chairman, Nasser al-Khelaifi, said on Wednesday that the Frenchman has “no reason” to leave the club after Messi’s signing.
“Kylian is a Parisian, he’s very competitive. He said he wanted a competitive team,” Al-Khelaifi was quoted by AFP on Wednesday.
“Now there’s no one more competitive than us. He has no reason to do anything else,” other than stay, he added.
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