PSG’s Lionel Messi targets ‘one more’ Champions League soccer title

Lionel Messi’s goal with new club Paris Saint-Germain is to win the Champions League tournament “once more,” the Argentine soccer star said at his introductory news conference.

Messi made the comment Tuesday in Paris. The six-time Ballon d’Or winner signed a two-year pact with the French Ligue 1 club. He joins fellow forwards Kylian Mbappe and Neymar Jr. in Paris. The trio should form one of the most-prolific attacks in the world.

“My goal and my dream is to win the Champions League once more,” Messi told reporters. “I think that we have the team to do it here.

“The squad and coaches here are capable of winning everything, which is my objective. The team here is incredible. There have been some amazing signings.”

PSG has never won the Champions League, which features the best teams from Europe’s top leagues. Messi and Neymar, who were teammates at Barcelona from 2013 to 2017, won the Champions League in 2014-15.

Messi won the tournament four times over his 17 year tenure at Barcelona. He called his exit from Barcelona “very hard.” Messi previously agreed to stay with the Spanish La Liga club, but his contract could not be finalized.

He left Barcelona with 672 goals in 778 matches. He scored another 76 goals in 151 international appearances for Argentina.

“I am very happy,” Messi said. “It’s crazy. I’m going to play with the best players in the world, and that’s always good.”

Messi said he doesn’t know when he “will first be able to play” for PSG, because he might need pre-season conditioning.

PSG starts its 2021-22 Ligue 1 campaign against Strasbourg at 3 p.m. EDT Saturday in Paris.