The image has been around the world, and it certainly did not go unnoticed in Spain. At PSG-Lyon on Sunday night, Lionel Messi was replaced during the match, something that never happened when he was at Barcelona. And as much to say that the image of the sevenfold Ballon d’Or, face taken aback by its release, regaled the Iberian press: the daily Marca, on its website, even evokes the beginning of “controversy”. “Leo was the main attraction of this match, continues the daily. At first he was very active, urgent and quick like a few years ago. […] He left, to everyone’s surprise, without knowing the reason for the moment. “
VIDEO. Pochettino: “We are there to make decisions, sometimes it pleases, sometimes not”
For his part, Mundo Deportivo even made some room on the front page of his paper newspaper to replace Messi. “Messi, a replacement and a grimace” is the headline of one of the other influential sports dailies in Spain. “Pochettino looked for solutions and decided to call on his bench,” explains the newspaper. His first change had an impact, as he decided to replace Messi for Hakimi. The Argentinian’s face means a lot, refusing to shake hands with his coach. “
Asked at the end of the meeting about the reasons for this change, Mauricio Pochettino justified himself in front of the press. “We have to make choices to form the group in each match, to make a starting XI and, during the meeting, we have to think about the good of the team and of each player,” explains the Argentinian coach. Sometimes decisions have a positive outcome, sometimes not. We are there, standing, at the edge of the field. We have to make decisions, it may or may not please. Compared to Leo’s reaction, I asked him how he was (Editor’s note: following his replacement), he told me he was fine. “
