Lionel Messi Suffers Another Early Champions League Exit As Bayern Munich Extinguish PSG's Euro Dream
Bayern 2-0 PSG (3-0 on agg)
Lionel Messi has exited the UEFA Champions League in the round of 16 for the third season in a row.
The Argentina captain played the full 90 minutes for Paris Saint-Germain against Bayern Munich in Germany on Wednesday night but was not able to prevent his side from falling to a 2-0 defeat.
That saw Bayern progress 3-0 on aggregate after they had won 1-0 in Paris three weeks earlier.
Bayern Munich eliminated PSG from the Champions League in the round of 16
IMAGO/Matthias Koch
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored the opening goal of the second leg when he punished his former team for overplaying inside their own penalty area.
Thomas Muller tackled Marco Verratti in the corner of PSG's 18-yard box before passing to Leon Goretzka, who put the ball on a plate for Choupo-Moting.
Bayern then killed the contest in the 90th minute when Serge Gnabry finished off a counter-attack following an assist by fellow substitute Joao Cancelo.
PSG's most exciting moment of the night had come in the 38th minute when Vitinha was denied a goal by a brilliant Matthijs de Ligt clearance.
Messi impressed in flashes, registering three shots and three key passes. But he was part of a team that was firmly second best.
Lionel Messi pictured leaving the field after PSG's 2-0 loss in the second leg
IMAGO/Sportimage/Jonathan Moscrop
PSG also exited the Champions League in the round of 16 last season when they fell to a 3-2 defeat by Real Madrid over two legs.
Messi's final Champions League campaign with Barcelona had ended in a 5-2 aggregate loss to PSG at this stage.
These three straight last 16 exits came after Messi had reached the quarter-finals in 13 consecutive seasons with Barca between 2008 and 2020.