Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe each scored two goals as Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) demolished Maccabi Haifa 7-2 to secure their passage to the Champions League knockout stage.
It was a night that Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) fans would remember for a long time. Legendary forward Lionel Messi, who played his 50th game for the Ligue 1 champions, and Kylian Mbappe scored two goals each as the Parisian club demolished Maccabi Haifa 7-2 to secure their passage to the Champions League 2022-23 knockout stage.
Messi needed just 19 minutes to fire PSG ahead, and French sensation Mbappe made it 2-0 with 32 minutes gone before Brazilian star Neymar joined the party to make it 3-0. Although Abdoulaye Seck pulled one back, the Argentinian legend's second sent the hosts into the break at 4-1. Seck doubled his tally five minutes after half-time, and the 23-year-old sensation netted his second in the 64th minute of the clash. Sean Goldberg's own goal made it 6-2 with 23 minutes remaining, and it was left to substitute Carlos Soler to complete the 7-2 rout.
Following this sensational victory over the Israeli champions, Messi took to Instagram to cherish another night of brilliance at the Parc des Princes. The 35-year-old forward, who has now scored 10 goals across competitions for the Parisian club, celebrated this win in a paid partnership with a popular brand of beer on the social media platform.
"I'll never get tired of scoring # Buuuuud's in front of our fans. Great win today. ⚽💪🏻" wrote Messi in a post that was flooded with comments and messages from fans of the Argentinian legend and PSG. The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner's compatriot and former Manchester City legend Sergio Aguero wrote, "Cheers 😅" in the comment box. His PSG teammate Neymar, who scored a goal in the 7-2 demolition, said, "Let's have a bud? 😂"
PSG will be joined in the last 16 by Group H rivals Benfica after they edged a seven-goal thriller to dump Juventus out of the competition. Meanwhile, PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi lauded the team's show and said, "I think that it's important for the team. It does a lot of good for the future, for our confidence too. Next week, we have an important match in Turin. This evening, it was QSI's 100th match in the Champions League, and we are very proud of that. We are here, and we continue our project. 100 matches, 7-2, it's not bad."
PSG boss Christophe Galtier was impressed with the team's overall performance but reiterated that much work is still left to do. "The team played fantastic football in a decisive match in terms of qualifying for the next round. I will reiterate that qualification has been achieved, but we need to go out and secure first place in Turin. The stakes will be very high for all four teams in this group, but the team played fantastic football with a lot of flair, technical quality, play between the lines, and attacking play. And for me, they enjoyed playing together. And when players at this level enjoy playing together, it provides this kind of match. And I think that both those watching on TV and our supporters must have enjoyed seeing them play that way," the Frenchman said.