Lionel Messi broke another goalscoring record as he guided Paris Saint-Germain to Ligue 1 2022/23 title on Saturday night, May 27. The legendary forward scored a second-half goal as PSG drew 1-1 away against Strasbourg in their 37th league game. A point helped them stretch a four-point gap over second-placed Lens with just one league game remaining this season. This was the 11th Ligue 1 title for the French giants as they surpassed Saint-Etienne and Marseille's record of 10 league titles.
In individual records, Messi scored his 496th goal in Europe's top five leagues and surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo to continue his sensational season. The Argentine footballer has recorded 496 goals in 577 matches while the Portuguese legend has 495 goals in 626 matches in Europe's top five leagues.
PSG needed just a point prior to their trip to Stade de la Meinau to clinch their ninth French title in 11 years. Messi and Kylian Mbappe started in attack with Neymar missing out again due to an injury. But PSG forwards failed to find a net in the first half as Strasbourg seemed adamant about securing a crucial point for their Ligue 1 survival. But Mbappe and Messi joined hands to break the deadlock in the 59th minute with the former producing a brilliant assist for the former Barcelona skipper.
But PSG were not able to hold on to three points as Strasbourg struck one back in the 79th minute. Former PSG forward Kevin Gameiro leveled for the hosts but a point was enough for PSG to secure a league title. After the game and celebration, PSG manager Christophe Galtier compared their title win with Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich and pointed out the difficult year for the reigning champions to defend their league titles this season.
"This afternoon I watched the last day of the season in the Bundesliga and you can see that it is very difficult to win the league, any league. The reigning champions in all European leagues have often had problems this season, so we appreciate what this means. It is a title and we must not believe it is normal to win, even if we are Paris Saint-Germain," Christophe Galtier said after guiding PSG to a league title.
