PSG need Lionel Messi 'blueprint', Julian Nagelsmann faces Bayern Munich pressure - Owen Hargreaves

Owen Hargreaves has suggested Paris Saint-German may need to follow the Argentina «blueprint» and build around Lionel Messi if they are to finally win the Champions League. The former England international thinks tactically, PSG have previously failed to win Europe’s most coveted prize due to an imbalance of star names in attacking areas who don’t work hard enough for the team. Ad The French champions take on Bayern Munich in the last 16 of this year’s competition with the first leg taking place in Paris, a match which can be seen live on BT Sport.

TransfersMount set to reject contract offer as Liverpool speculation builds — Paper Round12/02/2023 AT 06:35 Ahead of the encounter, Hargreaves also rued the fact they had to come face to face so early in the competition with both teams among the favourites to lift the trophy. “I think they’re both on the same level,” he told BT Sport. “It’s a shame this game is happening in the last 16 because they could both be finalists.

“Any team with Neymar, Messi and Mbappe you have to respect. Argentina won the World Cup and Lionel Scaloni built the whole team around Messi. We’ve never seen a team win the Champions League with three absolute world stars.

And that’s the problem PSG have had, they’ve never won the Champions League. “The way Messi won the World Cup almost shows the blueprint, so it’ll be interesting to see how PSG do against Bayern. You can’t carry three players who won’t work out of possession.

Messi and Mbappe don’t really track back full stop. Neymar does a little bit but the others don’t do anything. Against Bayern that can’t be a good recipe.” Mbappe surprise inclusion in PSG squad for Bayern clash after injury — 'He felt good' UEFA 'primarily responsible' for