Lionel Messi has shown that, even at 38, he is still a force in football. However, he has also expressed his displeasure with some decisions or situations that have not been to his liking.
At one time at Paris Saint-Germainhis coach at the time, Mauricio Pochettino, definitely to take him off the pitch in a Ligue 1 game, but Messi’s reaction was such that it still surprises the coach today.
When Messi asked Pochettino
The Argentinian coach, who is currently on the bench for the US national team, coached Messi, Neymar Junior and Kylian Mbappé at PSG from January 2021 to July 2022.
Managing one of the most powerful attacking trios in football was not a difficult task for Mauricio. In fact, he said his challenge was to create “an atmosphere of normality even under special circumstances.” However, he had to make decisions which could affect “MNM” and “millions of people” because each of them had achieved. And after four years, he still remembers one in particular.
In a Ligue 1 match against LillePochettino decided that Lionel should leave the field in the 75th minute of the game and the score is 1-1. This caught the attention of not only PSG and football fans in general, but also Messi himself, who disagreed and made no secret of it.
Once his teammate Achraf Hakimi had entered the field to replace him, Leo approached his coach, who has now revealed what he said to him. In an interview with High Performance, Pochettino said the Argentine star is “disappointed” and stood before him:
“He said to me: ‘You have to ask me‘. But I had to prioritize the health of his knee” he explained.After that game he came back, scored a goal against Manchester City and in the dressing room he just hugged me.Pochettino said.
But despite this exchange with Lionel, which ended well, the coach assured that “there was never any problem with discipline or respect with them” and that they were always “professional”.
Pochettino He has played 84 games (56 wins, 13 draws and 15 losses) and won Ligue 1, the French Cup and the French Super Cup, but the loss to Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League in 21/22 put an end to the club’s account.
Lionel, meanwhile, ended his contract with the French club on June 30, 2023, after two seasons in Paris. He then decided to set off on a new adventure and signed with David Beckham’s Inter Miami. He was introduced by the club in July 2023. There he won the 2023 League Cup, the 2024 MLS Supporters’ Shield and this year he won the MLS Eastern League Cup and the MLS Cup.
Now he is getting ready to defend his titles and kick off new MLS season on February 21 opposite Los Angeles FC at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.