Paris Saint Germain kicked off their tour in Japan with their first friendly match and won 2-1 against the reigning two-time J1 League champion, Kawasaki Frontale (ESPN Star+). And of the offensive trident to which the new DT Christophe Galtier bet, which make up Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar, Rosario was present in the net with a goal 32 minutes into the first half, after a huge play by the Frenchman on the left, pure dribbling, Hakimi’s back pass and the low and crossed shot, from the right, of the captain of the Argentine team. Also, They took a goal from Messi on the line, after a great individual maneuver.
In the second goal, 12 minutes into the second half, Messi also had a hand: he was part of the advanced attack, assisted Juan Bernat, who was lying on the left, and then appeared Arnaud Kalimuendo Muinga to push the ball over the line. This is how the second cry came at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo while the second stage was taking place.
In his first official season at PSG, Messi played 34 games (32 as a starter), provided 14 assists, shot 40 times on goal and scored 11 goals
At 62 minutes there were five changes in the French team, and Messi entered the rotation. In addition to Rosario, Sergio Ramos, Marquinhos, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Vitinha left, while Warren Zaire-Emery, Sergio Rico, Danilo Pereira, Thilo Kehrer and the Argentine Mauro Icardi entered. And the local discount for 2-1 came six minutes from the end, after a cross and a header from Yamamura.
This is a new challenge for Galtier, in his idea of giving PSG a new imprint. After the 2-0 win against Quevilly in France’s Ligue 2, he now faced the tough Japanese team with the idea of giving the first minutes of the game to Kylian Mbappé and Neymar. Both joined Messi to form the ideal attacking device for the Parisians. The novelty is that the new coach was inclined to play with a line of three defenders in the background.
Kawasaki Frontale came to this game on an irregular footing, with two wins and two losses in the last five games they played in the J1 League, a campaign that places them in third position with 37 points, eight behind the leader Yokohama Marinos. In addition, he comes from being left out in the third round of the Emperor’s Cup. However, they are the reigning two-time Japanese league champions and had a good chance to show themselves against one of the best teams in the world. PSG’s tour on Japanese soil will continue on Saturday: in Saitama they will face Urawa Reds, while on Monday, they will face Gamba Osaka, and then return to Paris and focus on Ligue 1.