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After nearly clinching a historic 10th title three days ago, Paris Saint-Germain accomplished the feat in thrilling fashion on Saturday night.
PSG secured the Ligue 1 title in a 1–1 draw against Lens, thanks to a beautiful left-footed rocket by Lionel Messi. The victory moved the star-studded club into a tie with AS Saint-Étienne and Olympique Lyonnais for the most top-flight titles; the clubs have each won 10 top-flight titles between 1935 and 2009.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner’s sensational score came in the 68th minute of the match on an assist from Neymar, who was one of the first to greet a celebrating Messi on the pitch.
The win, combined with Wednesday’s 3–0 victory at Angers, increased PSG’s league points total on the season to 78 points; the club’s record now sits at 24-6-4 with four games remaining. Messi missed the midweek match in due to injury, but Mauricio Pochettino‘s bunch fared just fine, thanks to goals from Kylian Mbappé, Sergio Ramos and Marquinhos.
The winners of eight of the last 10 Ligue 1 titles, PSG’s victory helps to quell the sting of last month’s Round of 16 exit in the Champions League following a loss to Real Madrid. It also avenges last year’s collapse in the league in which LOSC Lille snatched the Ligue 1 title away from the Parisian giants.
Saturday’s win also marks the first trophy won by the highly-touted Messi-Neymar-Mbappé trio since the 34-year-old Messi left Barcelona last summer.
