CNN
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Lionel Messi scored a sensational bicycle kick to complete Paris Saint-Germain’s 5-0 rout of Clermont in their first game of the new Ligue 1 season on Saturday.
The Argentine’s goal was the pick of the pack as he latched onto Leandro Paredes’ pass before controlling it with his chest and sending it acrobatically over the goalkeeper.
It came just six minutes after Messi scored his first goal of the game, sweeping his arrival into the bottom corner when set up by the brilliant Neymar.
The Brazilian striker had opened the scoring in an impressive performance before providing two more assists for Achraf Hakimi and Marquinhos to make it 3-0 before half-time.
Messi then ended the evening with a brace to give the defending league champion an emphatic victory under new manager Christophe Galtier.
The result will be a wake-up call for other teams in the French top flight given that it came without star Kylian Mbappe, who was out through injury.
“The most important thing is to score goals, it’s in the DNA of Paris Saint-Germain and in the DNA of the players here,” Galtier told PSGTV after the game.
“There is therefore a real satisfaction with these two elements of our game, attacking in numbers with a lot of technical quality and defending as a team.”
