Lionel Messi's first PSG goal continues his remarkable opening streak

Lionel Messi opened his Paris Saint-Germain account on Tuesday night with a sublime strike which lived up to his maiden goals for club and country.

The legendary forward popped up in the 74th minute to secure a 2-0 victory over Manchester City and send a strong statement of PSG's intent in the Champions League this season.

Messi arrived at the French giants on a free transfer this summer with Parc des Princes chiefs hoping he can inspire the club to European glory for the first time.

PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino expects plenty more from Messi now he has broken his duck, which is unsurprising given the six-time Ballon d'Or winner's career goals tally, which stands at 763 after he netted against City.

Lionel Messi got off the mark for Paris Saint-Germain in his fourth appearance for the club ( Image:

Getty Images)

The 34-year-old's journey to becoming a goalscoring phenomenon began in May 2005, when the fresh-faced La Masia graduate got off the mark for Barcelona to send Camp Nou wild.

10 months later, Messi scored his first goal for Argentina in equally-brilliant fashion to set in motion a winding love affair with the national team and its fans.

Relive Messi's first goals for Barcelona, Argentina and PSG right here.

Barcelona

Opponent: Albacete

Competition: La Liga

Date: 1 May 2005

Having been promoted to the first team on the request of senior Barcelona players, Lionel Messi made nine first-team appearances in the 2004/05 season.

His first goal for the club - whose famed academy he had joined in 2000 - came in the last of those appearances after he replaced Samuel Eto'o for the closing stages of a La Liga clash with Albacete.

Eto'o had put Barca ahead in the second half and Frank Rijkaard sent Messi on in the 88th minute to see out the match.

But the 17-year-old had his heart set on more than three points and went agonisingly close to scoring his first senior goal as he latched onto Ronaldinho's pass and dinked Raul Valbuena only for the linesman's flag to go up.

Incredibly, Messi scored what was almost a carbon copy of his disallowed goal seconds later. Timing his run to perfection at the second time of asking, he allowed Ronaldinho's chipped pass to bounce in front of him before scooping over Valbuena and into the corner of the net.

The noise in Camp Nou was deafening as Messi, wearing the No.30 shirt, ran to the corner in celebration and jumped on his Brazilian teammate's back.

It was the first of his 672 goals for the Catalan giants.

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Argentina

Opponent: Croatia

Competition: International friendly

Date: 1 March 2006

Lionel Messi proved unstoppable for the Croatia defence

Lionel Messi's time with the Argentina national team got off to a bad start. He was sent off for an altercation with Hungary's Vilmos Vanczak just minutes into his debut in August 2005 and he was found weeping in the dressing room by teammates.

But that did not keep him down for long and he scored his first goal for the South American giants as he earned his sixth cap in a friendly with Croatia seven months later.

If ever there was a trademark Messi goal, this was it. The teenager pounced on loose passing by the left side of Croatia's defence before cutting infield with impeccable speed and control.

Lionel Messi, wearing No.19, cut inside and curled beyond the Croatia goalkeeper

By the time he reached the edge of the 'D', all that was left to do was powerfully bend the ball beyond Stipe Pletikosa, putting Argentina ahead after Carlos Tevez equalised moments earlier.

Messi has gone on to score a further 78 goals for Argentina, making him his country's record goalscorer. His international career has involved the heartbreak of defeat in the 2014 World Cup final and three Copa America finals, prompting his retirement from Argentina duty in 2016.

But his subsequent U-turn led to elation this summer as Messi ended his country's 28-year trophy drought by captaining them to victory over Brazil in the Copa America final.

Paris Saint-Germain

Opponent: Manchester City

Competition: Champions League

Date: 28 September 2021

Lionel Messi fired beyond Ederson after a delightful one-two with Kylian Mbappe ( Image:

Getty Images)

Ahead of Tuesday's Champions League showdown, the spotlight was on whether Lionel Messi could strike up a workable relationship with Kylian Mbappe as well as Neymar in Paris Saint-Germain's glittering forward line.

The trio failed to impress during a 1-1 draw at Club Brugge two weeks earlier, but they answered their critics emphatically against Manchester City.

After Idrissa Gueye scored in the first half, Messi combined with Mbappe to secure three valuable group-stage points against the Premier League champions.

The Argentine received the ball from Marco Verratti on the halfway line and burst into the final third, angling his run inside as Achraf Hakimi stretched the City defence on the overlap.

With Kylian Mbappe making a darting run into the box, Messi poked the ball to the Frenchman and received it back with a deft, outside-of-the-boot first touch.

Messi then fired the ball into the far top corner, leaving City goalkeeper Ederson stranded as he finally announced himself in the French capital.

Just as Messi sent Camp Nou into meltdown over 16 years earlier, the Parc des Princes crowd made sure their No.30 knew just what a goal he had scored.