‘Everything will be smoother’ - Mauricio Pochettino admits Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe saved PSG against RB Leipzig
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Published 20/10/2021 at 08:25 GMT
Messi sealed the 3-2 Champions League win over RB Leipzig with a Panenka penalty, his second goal of the game, after Mbappe opened the scoring. Pochettino says they got the team out of a hole and believes there is potential for two of his star players to strike up a lethal rapport, even though the France striker has publicly admitted he has tried to leave the club.
Pochettino hails Messi-Mbappe ‘connection’ after RB Leipzig win
Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino praised Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe for getting them out of trouble in a 3-2 Champions League win over RB Leipzig, and believes they are showing they are moving towards being on the same wavelength.
Messi scored twice, including the winning goal with a Panenka penalty, after Kylian Mbappe put the French side ahead in the ninth minute, in what was a less than convincing team performance.
It was the first time the Argentina captain scored more than once in a game for his new club, having moved from Barcelona in the summer, and there appeared to be a level of understanding between Messi and Mbappe.
Pochettino believes that will improve over the coming weeks, but with Mbappe apparently wanting to leave the club, and Real Madrid president Florentino Perez appearing to hint they will try and complete a move for the striker in January, the partnership may not have long to flourish.
But the former Tottenham head coach praised their performance against the Bundesliga club, getting them out of sticky patches after PSG fell behind in the second half.
"The talent of Kylian and Leo is pretty obvious, they play for Paris Saint-Germain and so in matches where the team as a whole cannot find the right answers, I think that such talented players can find solutions like they did today,” he said.
“This is why it is important to have players of this calibre in a team like Paris Saint-Germain who want to win every match."
"With time I am sure that certain things will work much better, everything will be smoother.
It’s true that talent shines out, and players like Leo obviously and Kylian or Julian (Draxler), who were our most attacking players tonight, have huge talent and their connection goes beyond the work that they actually did together.
The turnaround from 2-1 down means PSG are top of Group A and unbeaten from their three matches so far.
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