Lionel Messi Scores First PSG Goal vs. Man City in Champions League

PSG star Lionel Messi waited until the club's biggest game of the season to score his first goal against Manchester City in Champions League.

In his third start for PSG, Lionel Messi finally has his first goal for the club—and it came in memorable fashion against Manchester City. 

With PSG already leading 1-0 in the 74th minute, Messi finished off a quick counterattack by cutting in from the right and finding Kylian Mbappé at the edge of the penalty box. Mbappé, always looking for the quick one-two, rolled a pass back to Messi before the Argentina star buried his shot into the top corner for his 121st career Champions League goal—and his first for anyone but Barcelona. 

Messi's gorgeous strike doubles PSG's lead over Man City, and the Parc des Princes is loving every second of it

(via @CBSSportsGolazo) pic.twitter.com/KfEJHWcV4y

— SI Soccer (@si_soccer) September 28, 2021

It's Messi's seventh career goal against Manchester City, and also his seventh goal against a side coached by his former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola. While under Guardiola at Barça, Messi scored 211 goals in 219 games in all competitions and won three La Liga and two Champions League titles. 

Messi made his PSG debut against Reims on Aug. 29 as a second-half substitute and made his first start in the club's first Champions League group stage match against Club Brugge on Sept. 15—a 1-1 draw that also featured Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé playing together for the first time. 

But he missed league wins against Metz and Montpellier this week due to a knee injury that he suffered in a 2-1 win over Lyon on Sept 19. 

The 34-year-old forward joined PSG earlier this month after more than 20 years at Barcelona, which couldn't keep Messi due to the club's well-documented financial troubles.