Champions League: Is Lionel Messi playing for PSG against Maccabi Haifa? Here's an update

Paris Saint-Germain are up against Maccabi Haifa in the UEFA Champions League 2022-23 match, scheduled to be played at the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Israel. PSG head into the match on the back of a 1-0 victory over Brest in the Ligue 1 2022-23. The reigning French champions earlier kicked off their UCL 2022-23 campaign with a 2-1 win against Juventus, where Kylian Mbappe scored twice.

Meanwhile, heading into Wednesday night’s match, PSG will be hoping that Neymar Jr. continues his goal-scoring run while expecting to witness Lionel Messi’s first Champions League goal of the season. In a video posted by the club on Tuesday, the Argentine sensational was seen training alongside the club. The team later put out a picture of the team landing at Haifa for the match, where a smiling Messi can be seen walking down the stairs. 

Top-performers for Paris Saint-Germain in 2022 season

The posts suggest that Messi will play for PSG in the UCL match against Maccabi Haifa on Wednesday night. While Neymar Jr. leads the scoring charts for PSG with a combined no. of 10 goals this season in nine appearances across competitions, Messi has scored four goals so far in the season. Out of the four, the 35-year-old has scored three Ligue 1 goals and one goal in the Trophee des Champions. 

On the other hand, Neymar netted twice in the Trophee des Champions, while scoring eight goals and six assists in the Ligue 1. He also assisted one of Mbappe’s goal during the previous Champions League match against Juventus. Mbappe has seven Ligue 1 goals and two UCL goals for PSG so far. In the meantime, the PSG vs Maccabi Haifa, UCL 2022-23 match is scheduled to start at 12:30 IST on Thursday. 

Champions League 2022-23, Maccabi Haifa vs PSG: Predicted starting lineups

Maccabi Haifa’s predicted starting lineup: Josh Cohen; Daniel Sundgren, Sun Menachem, Sean Goldberg, Pierre Cornud; Neta Lavi, Tjaronn Chery, Dolev Haziza; Dean David, Frantzdy Pierrot, Omer Atzili

PSG’s predicted starting lineup- Keylor Navas; Sergio Ramos, Marquinhos, Danilo Pereira; Achraf Hakimi, Marco Verratti, Nuno Mendes, Vitinha; Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar