Messi: It’s much harder in France

LIONEL MESSI admits he’s going to have to toughen up if he’s to flourish in France after failing to find the net in his first month in Ligue 1.

The 34-year-old, who couldn’t stop scoring during a glittering 16-year career in Barcelona, has struggled to make an impact at Paris SaintGermain, the club he joined in the summer.

Messi has made three league outings for the Ligue 1 leaders and not scored in any of them. In fact, his only goal for his new club came in a 2-0 win against Manchester City in the Champions League.

‘Ligue 1 is a league which is much more physical than La Liga,’ Messi told France Football the day he was nominated for the Ballon d’Or.

Messi admits his exit from Barca was a ‘painful experience’ but teaming up with fellow Argentinians Leandro Paredes, Angel di Maria and boss Mauricio Pochettino has made the transition seamless.

And reuniting with Neymar — who he played with at Barca — alongside Kylian Mbappe, is more cause for optimism.

‘I’m sure it will work out well,’ he said.

CHELSEA were dealt an injury scare last night after Romelu Lukaku was ruled out of Belgium’s Nations League game against Italy.

The £97.5m summer signing scored twice in Belgium’s 3-2 defeat by France in the semi-final but will miss the third-place playoff due to what Belgium boss Roberto Martinez called ‘muscle overload’. Eden Hazard will also miss the Italy game.

SHREWSBURY striker Ryan Bowman was rushed to hospital during his side’s 2-1 defeat at Ipswich after suffering heart palpitations.

Bowman was substituted in the 35th minute after complaining of feeling unwell.

‘The doctor said his heart was beating up at 250 beats a minute or something,’ said Shrews’ chief Steve Cotterill.