Is the trio of Messi, Neymar, Mbappé dangerous for the opponent or rather for PSG?

When Lionel Messi chose PSG, everyone started to worry about the devastating Messi-Neymar-Mbappé trio. But so far it hasn’t been going well, which logically raises the question of whether it’s hurting the Parisians.

PSG regularly rely on fast breaks. In attack, it had big weapons in the form of Mbappé, Neymar or Di Maria. The line-up is typologically based on that, central midfielders Gueye, Paredes, Herrera or Danilo are all big fighters who don’t concede anything, but in terms of ball possession and interplay, they can’t compete much with City’s midfielders, for example.

And Messi still hasn’t got to grips with that style. From Barcelona he was used to tiki-taka, his team had the ball in possession most of the time, so he had plenty of opportunities to invent something. But at PSG he has few such chances, he doesn’t like breakaway situations, that’s why he didn’t even have a shot on target against Manchester City, for example.

This trio is an example that stars and money are not everything in football. And a dream attack does not guarantee victory. Pep Guardiola doesn’t have attacking stars of that calibre and even struggled to cope without a top striker for most of the game. However, with an incredibly sophisticated style of play, he puts star names in his pocket.

All three of PSG’s stars stayed in the attacking phase of the game, and were barely involved in the defending. The Citizens were attacking down to seven players, so it often visually looked like a battle between giant and dwarf rather than two evenly matched opponents.

PSG knew very well why they should keep Mbappé and not make an offer of €220 million, because the French marksman’s breakout style suits him perfectly and he is the only one of the trio who maintains a high standard every game. Even at the minimum, he can make the most out of the minimum, sending the Parisians into the lead.

By the way, he has a record of 7+7 in the league and 2+3 in the Champions League. Messi 1+0 in the league, 3+0 in the Champions League and Neymar 3+3 and 0+0. So Mbappé alone has scored more goals in the millionaire competition than Messi and Neymar combined.

The Parisians will have no competition in the long-term league, where there is room for occasional lapses. It’s just that in the Champions League, where two knockout matches are played and details often decide the game, PSG will have problems.

You can’t always rely on star footballers to come up with something on their own. You’d be hard pressed to find a style of play or any concept in the players in dark blue, against the Citizens’ cohesion they looked at times like a bunch of players playing together for the first time.

Logically, the question arises. Is the trio of Messi, Neymar, Mbappé really a destructive force for the opponents, or on the contrary, is it detrimental to PSG? So far, it looks like the latter.

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