Lionel Messi says loss against Real Madrid last season was hard: “We played great” | OneFootball

Real Madrid’s run en route lifting the Champions League was historic; arguably the most difficult one of all time. Not only because of the teams they faced – and beat -, but also because of the manner in which they did.

Their run in the knockouts included comeback wins against Paris Saint-Germain in the Round of 16, Chelsea in the quarter-finals, and then Manchester City in the semi-finals.

PSG were head and shoulders better than Madrid in the first leg of the encounter. Thibaut Courtois was flawless for 93 minutes, but could not deny Kylian Mbappe’s 94th-minute winner.

In the second leg, too, Mbappe’s brilliance had a chokehold on Madrid for 60 minutes. It was not enough, though, as Karim Benzema’s second-half hattrick took the game away from their grasp.

Gianluigi Donnarumma got the lion’s share of the blame, but it is also difficult to look past Lionel Messi’s first leg penalty miss. A goal there, in the second half, no less, would have taken the game away from the Spanish side.

Messi opened up about the game, speaking to Barcelona legend Hristo Stoitchkov, as relayed by AS Argentina.

“It was very hard, because of how it happened. We played two great games, but lost because of small details”, he said.

PSG were undoubtedly one of the leading candidates to lift the trophy last season, alongside Manchester City and Liverpool – all three of whom lost to Real Madrid along the way.

Messi says their prime objective this season, much like last, is to conquer Europe, but that it is tricky because the best team does not always win it:

“The main objective for PSG, as every year, is to win the UCL. It is a very difficult competition, because the best team does not always win it. It is always decided by minor details, any mistake can knock you out.”