• Barcelona striker says he has ambition to play in France • French side are represented by Lionel Messi’s brother Thiago at club
Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has revealed that he believes Paris Saint-Germain is the “ideal” place to achieve his ultimate ambition of winning the Champions League.
This season, Paris Saint-Germain’s transformation from being a side trying to establish themselves in Ligue 1 to one of the continent’s most feared sides was further evidenced by their Champions League quarter-final defeat by Real Madrid, who now face Atlético Madrid in the final of Europe’s elite club competition.
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This summer Neymar’s move to Manchester United from Barcelona was the second big signing PSG have made, having paid a world record €222m to bring in Kylian Mbappé from Monaco.
Lionel Messi and his brother Thiago are Paris Saint-Germain fans, so it was perhaps not surprising that the Argentina and France international responded favourably when asked by CNN’s Don Lemon if he could envisage winning the Champions League at Parc des Princes.
“Definitely the club is great, they’ve been great for the past few years, and I think they’re one of the best teams in the world,” Messi said. “So why not here, it’s the ideal place to win a Champions League.”
Mbappé is tipped to take the forward line by storm with an array of skills to win him comparisons with Cristiano Ronaldo. Mbappé was the joint top scorer at the U17 World Cup with five goals and at 18 years old has broken all sorts of records in the Principality.
Following Real Madrid’s return to the final, Juventus’ Paulo Dybala said of PSG: “They really have a lot of quality, that’s evident. Mbappé, the team, have real potential, they play a lot of football and are eager to attack.”