Disappointing Messi fires another blank against team of QPR level for PSG. But facing Chelsea...

By Alessandro Schiavone at Parc des Princes

PSG 5-0 Ajaccio

As walks in the parks go in football, this was as straightforward a win as they come for PSG, who have re-extended their lead at the top of Ligue 1 to six points by relegating hapless Ajaccio following a 5-0 win. 

Yet in all this Lionel Messi, jeered throughout by his own fans, did nothing to silence the boo boys as he was a (dis)interested spectator at the Kylian Mbappe show.  A shadow of his former self. A player who appears to only be happy when representing Argentina these days.

Ajaccio had leaked 61 goals prior to their visit to the capital. But the Argentine superstar, who scored FOURTEEN goals against London teams in his stellar career broken down into three against Chelsea, three times as many against Arsenal and two against Spurs, fired a disappointing 15th blank of his Ligue 1 campaign. 

The excuse that Ajaccio made it a bit harder for Messi by doubling or tripling up on him doesn’t stand up. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was only a year younger when he hit the onion bag 38 times for PSG in the league back in 2016.

In his prime Messi would have destroyed Ajaccio on his own. However, a seven-time Ballon d'Or conqueror doesn't need to be at the peak of his powers to annihilate Ajaccio, a team at the level of QPR at best. In yet another post-Qatar underwhelming outing, Messi’s body language suggested that this is a player who is itching to leave the club. The recent controversy he was engulfed in following an unauthorised personal promotional trip to Saudi Arabia marked a point of no return with a large section of the supporters who took their frustrations out on him each time he had the ball.

Meanwhile in a reminder of the player Messi once was, Mbappé looked impossible to stop. He sensationally took his volley without a second thought following a long ball forward by veteran Sergio Ramos. An Ajaccio defender made a hash of a headed clearance with the ball setting up nicely for the 24-year-old to slam home PSG’s fourth of the evening. No longer being the main man, like in his glorious Barcelona days or with his seleccion, is hard to take for someone like Messi, who was used to being the centre of attention for two decades.

If once he took the fans’ breath away with his explosiveness, changes of pace and direct approach he starts to look more and more like a soon-to-be 36 year old player who is ready for a last big payday to wind down his inimitable career. Saudi Arabia more than the Premier League or a return home to the Camp Nou could be the fitting financial end to perfectly honoured sporting proceedings .

Make no mistake, Messi can still provide those moments of inspiration at the grandest stage like he did in Qatar 6 months ago. But does he still want it? Yesterday's game proved that when there is not much at stake and when the global spotlight is off, he struggles to find motivation which is understandable for a player who won the Champions League four times.

Operating more centrally, he touched many balls in the opening stages but other than a free-kick he sent over and some sloppy passes there’s not much to remember from his mediocre performance. Unsurprisingly, he slowed PSG’s game down. 

The latest events which saw him attract the ire of his own fans after he skipped a training session for a trip to the Middle East killed his chances of a future sejour in the capital stone dead. 

The games against Auxerre, Strasbourg and Clermont will be his last in French football. 

Despite contributing 30 goals in Ligue this season, with half of those being his own strikes, he hasn’t delivered the trophy he was brought in for: the Champions League. He's on course for his second Ligue 1 title but PSG would probably have seen off Lens and Marseille for domestic silverware even without him, such is their national supremacy.

The Parisian fans are left ruing what might have been had he joined them 10 years ago when he was even more devastating than Mbappé is now.

Because if Messi was once a TGV, he is a regional train these days.  

Yet it would not come as a surprise to see him roll back the years and return to being the divine figure that spectacularly trashed the opposition in his heyday if he was given the chance to play against Chelsea's disjointed defence once more.

After all, the Blues have been so appalling this season that they can reignite anyone's passion and appetite for the game in a bid to boost their numbers.

That includes those who appear to have lost it completely like the GOAT.