Lionel Messi Suffers Another Early Champions League Exit As Bayern Munich Extinguish PSG's Euro Dream

Lionel Messi has exited the UEFA Champions League in the round of 16 for the 3rd year in a row after PSG were soundly beating 3-0 by Bayern Munich on aggregate.
Lionel Messi Suffers Another Early Champions League Exit As Bayern Munich Extinguish PSG's Euro Dream
Lionel Messi Suffers Another Early Champions League Exit As Bayern Munich Extinguish PSG's Euro Dream /

Bayern 2-0 PSG (3-0 on agg)

Lionel Messi has exited the UEFA Champions League in the round of 16 for the third season in a row.

The Argentina captain played the full 90 minutes for Paris Saint-Germain against Bayern Munich in Germany on Wednesday night but was not able to prevent his side from falling to a 2-0 defeat.

That saw Bayern progress 3-0 on aggregate after they had won 1-0 in Paris three weeks earlier.

A photo taken from inside the Allianz Arena before kick-off between Bayern Munich and PSG in March 2023
Bayern Munich eliminated PSG from the Champions League in the round of 16 :: IMAGO/Matthias Koch

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored the opening goal of the second leg when he punished his former team for overplaying inside their own penalty area.

Thomas Muller tackled Marco Verratti in the corner of PSG's 18-yard box before passing to Leon Goretzka, who put the ball on a plate for Choupo-Moting.

Bayern then killed the contest in the 90th minute when Serge Gnabry finished off a counter-attack following an assist by fellow substitute Joao Cancelo.

PSG's most exciting moment of the night had come in the 38th minute when Vitinha was denied a goal by a brilliant Matthijs de Ligt clearance.

Messi impressed in flashes, registering three shots and three key passes. But he was part of a team that was firmly second best.

Lionel Messi pictured leaving the field after PSG's 2-0 loss at Bayern Munich in March 2023
Lionel Messi pictured leaving the field after PSG's 2-0 loss in the second leg :: IMAGO/Sportimage/Jonathan Moscrop

PSG also exited the Champions League in the round of 16 last season when they fell to a 3-2 defeat by Real Madrid over two legs.

Messi's final Champions League campaign with Barcelona had ended in a 5-2 aggregate loss to PSG at this stage.

These three straight last 16 exits came after Messi had reached the quarter-finals in 13 consecutive seasons with Barca between 2008 and 2020.

SEE ALSO: Pitch Invader Tries To Grab Lionel Messi After PSG Lose To Bayern Munich


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Robert Summerscales
ROBERT SUMMERSCALES

Robert Summerscales launched FanNation Futbol in February 2022. Rob is a British journalist who previously spent two years on the sports desk at the Daily Mail in London, having earlier served as editor of CaughtOffside.com. He has been to the last two FIFA Men's World Cups, in Russia and Qatar, and is looking forward to completing his hat-trick in North America in 2026.