Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami team could have been hammered 4-0 by Paris Saint-Germain on the Club World Cup, but he seemed in good spirits after the sport.
PSG booked their spot within the quarter-finals of the tournament because of a snug victory in Atlanta.
Joao Neves scored twice and Achraf Hakimi scored after Tomas Aviles had put through his own net.
It was a dominant performance from the European champions and they’ll now face either Bayern Munich or Flamengo within the last eight.
There was no joy in any respect for Messi against his former club but he was completely satisfied to meet up with former teammates after the sport.
It was actually a teammate from Barcelona that landed a special gift from the legendary forward, as Messi handed over his whole kit, including his boots, to Ousmane Dembele.
The Frenchman also posted an image alongside Messi, which he captioned: ‘Good to see you again @leomessi, the best of all time.. I hope you proceed to make history with the @intermiamicf like on this World Club.’
Dembele was obviously keen so as to add to his shirt collection on Sunday as he picked up a pair more former Barcelona stars as well.
Not content with just Messi’s, the 28-year-old also snapped up Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba’s jerseys.
Dembele spent six years with Barca after signing from Borussia Dortmund in 2017, although never really lived as much as expectations after the Catalan giants agreed a deal for him which could have reached £135.5m.
He made 185 appearances for Barcelona across all competitions, scoring 40 goals, with injuries hampering his progress during his time in Spain.
Since leaving for PSG in 2023 things have gone significantly better for him, netting 33 goals in 49 appearances last season alone as Luis Enrique’s side won Ligue 1 and the Champions League.
PSG boss Enrique said after the victory on Sunday that the result didn’t reflect that it was a troublesome game for his side.
‘It’s difficult to play against players of this calibre, it was difficult, but I feel as a team we did a wonderful job,’ he said.
‘There’s a visual difference between the primary and second halves… their quality is obvious, and I feel we deserved the victory.
‘It was harder than it could appear, after the primary half.’
He added: ‘We’re within the quarter-finals, with only eight teams remaining. Our goal is to progress so far as possible and to compete for the trophy. But for that, we want to beat two more knock-out rounds.
‘The season could be very long, because it is for all teams, however the motivation to be competitive is there.’
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