Paris Saint-Germain's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi runs with the ball during the French L1 football match between Stade de Reims and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) at Stade Auguste Delaune in Reims, northern France on August 29, 2021. AFP
Lionel Messi made his Paris Saint-Germain debut on Sunday, coming off the bench in the second half of their Ligue 1 game against Reims.
The Argentine was introduced as a substitute in the 66th minute, replacing Neymar with PSG leading 2-0 at the time thanks to a brace from Kylian Mbappe.
Messi's first appearance comes almost three weeks after he joined PSG from Barcelona. His last game of any sort was the Copa America final between Argentina and Brazil on July 11, some seven weeks ago.
The game at the 21,000-capacity Stade Auguste-Delaune was a sell-out and excited fans in the home sections of the ground chanted Messi's name as he came out to warm up early in the second half.
After Sunday's match he is due to head off on international duty with Argentina, who play three 2022 World Cup qualifiers in the next fortnight against Venezuela, Brazil and Bolivia.
Short link: