August 16 – Paris St Germain presented Lionel Messi to fans inside the Parc des Princes stadium ahead of their Ligue 1 clash with Strasbourg on Saturday but the Argentine, as expected, was not included in the squad for the match.
Messi took to the field pre-match along with fellow new recruits Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Achraf Hakimi and Georginio Wijnaldum.
“It has been a very special week for me,” he said in Spanish. “I want to thank everyone for the reception since I arrived in Paris. It has been truly incredible. I feel very happy and excited. I hope together we can enjoy this year and make it a great year for us. I am very excited about everything.”
The 34-year-old superstar joined PSG from Barcelona last week on a two-year contract with the option of extending it by another year.
He received a rapturous reception from the 48,000 full house and later watched from the stands alongside Neymar and Angel di Maria – the trio are not yet considered match-fit having enjoyed an extended break after playing at the Copa America. Mauricio Pochettino’s team made it two wins from two Ligue 1 matches this season with a 4-2 win.
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