Lionel Messi aiming to make Luis Enrique eat his words in Club World Cup showdown

Lionel Messi will face his former club Paris Saint Germain in the Club World Cup with a huge point to prove. Inter Miami superstar Messi, 38, had two years at PSG when even one of football’s all-time greats could not take the French giants where they wanted to go.

Incredibly, Messi scored 32 goals and assisted 35 in 75 appearances for PSG before moving onto Inter Miami. But it simply did not work as PSG had the best names - Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Co - and yet they looked like a group of individuals rather than a team.

Fast forward two years and PSG boss Luis Enrique finally delivered the Holy Grail of the Champions League and proved you can win European football’s biggest prize without the biggest names.

The Messi experiment did not work for PSG and it ended amid some bitterness, acrimony and disappointment. It was good on the pitch for Messi but he did not really fit into a team structure.

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There was also public fall-out as Messi’s family struggled to settle in Paris and, as a result, there is no particular love lost there.

And yet he has been a phenomenal success for Inter Miami. He has been a transformational signing. Bigger than when David Beckham went to LA Galaxy and arguably the biggest in MLS history.

This week, as they always do, Major League Soccer published the earnings of their players and Messi was top as he pocketed £14.5m - or £290,000-a-week - which was way ahead of anyone else.

Messi has been in the US for two years. His debut was a star-studded affair where even LeBron James and Kim Kardashian queued up for selfies.

His influence on and off the pitch has been huge. When he first arrived, he saw United States international Benjamin Cremaschi in training and told him: “run less, think more.” His influence has been huge. Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets followed.

The reality is that Inter Miami and the MLS believe he is worth every penny of that giant salary and the charade is now beginning over his future.

Messi is in the final year of his contract, they are desperate for him to stay and it is huge for the United States generally because there is less than a year to go until the main World Cup.

That is the background and story behind Messi’s date with destiny against PSG and a chance to prove his worth and make his point in the last 16 tie on Monday in Atlanta.

This is the sort of showdown that FIFA could only dream about when they created the Club World Cup. It was also probably a bit of a pipe dream when Inter Miami started their Club World Cup with a goalless draw against Al Ahly. Inter Miami were lucky to escape with a draw.

But the fairytale began when Messi scored a winner with a glorious free kick to beat Porto. They drew against Palmeiras but threw away a 2-0 lead and yet for a MLS side to reach the knock-out stages was a huge moment for the league.

That is how they view it here. And also Inter Miami are growing in confidence, belief and meanwhile they are gaining momentum. They have been the best of the three MLS teams in this tournament.

Yes, PSG should win. And they are among the favourites to win the Club World Cup. They blitzed Atletico Madrid, lost to Botafogo and then got the job done against Seattle Sounders.

They were the best team in Europe bar none last season. Along the way, Enrique kept referencing winning without big stars and names. That will surely fire up Messi. And when Messi is in the mood, he is still a force to be reckoned with.

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