When will Messi make his Champions League debut for PSG: How did he do on his first Europe debut for Barcelona?

For the first time in history, Lionel Messi will be playing in the UEFA Champions League for a club that isn't FC Barcelona.   The UEFA Champions League draws were made together, with Messi's PSG drawn in the same group alongside Manchester City, RB Leipzig and Club Brugge in Group A. Lionel Messi played 18 senior seasons for Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League, winning 4 times. 

However, this season, fans will see him in different colours as he makes his now for PSG. Messi's Champions League debut for PSG is expected to be on Matchday 1 between 14/15 September 2021. His first opponent is not known yet but the Argentine forward would love to hit the ground running in Europe's elite competition this season. 

Messi will also be keen to avoid the kind of first outing he had in the Champions League with Barcelona. Messi made his UEFA Champions League debut on the 7th of December, 2004 against Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk. Messi played the full 90 minutes on that day, in what was a low-pressure game after Barcelona had already secured knockout phase qualification. Nonetheless, Barcelona still lost the game by two goals to nothing despite fielding first-teamers such as Victor Valdes, Carles Puyol, Andre Iniesta and Xavi. That would be Messi's only appearance in Europe that season as Barcelona was eliminated by Chelsea at the Round-of-16. 

Winning the Champions League is of utmost importance to both Lionel Messi and his club, PSG. The Parisian club sees it as the only missing trophy in their 10-year association with their club. To remedy this, PSG recruited a host of former UEFA Champions League title winners to bolster a squad that reached the final 2 seasons ago and the semi-final last season. Achraf Hakimi, Danilo Pereira,  Sergio Ramos, Gini Wijnaldum, Gigi Donnarumma and Lionel Messi are the players that PSG has purchased.