09/18/2021 11:14 AM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 09/18/2021 11:15 AM
After completing his first 90 minutes with the Paris Saint-Germain jersey in the Champions League debut against Bruges, Lionel Messi will appear for the first time in the Parc des Princes this Sunday, in the classic against Olympique de Lyon for the sixth date of Ligue 1. That possibility has calm and expectant the captain of the Argentine team, according to what the coach of the French team, Mauricio Pochettino, told this Saturday.
"Messi is calm.
He knows that it is possible that he will debut on Sunday in front of the PSG fans and that can be nice.
The most important thing is that the team is concentrated and focused on improving the performance we had in the Champions League and, logically, winning the game, ”said the DT during the press conference prior to Sunday's match.
After having played his first 25 minutes with his new team on August 29 against Reims and his trip to dispute the triple date of the Qualifiers for the World Cup in Qatar 2022 with the selected team, the Rosario started the duel that his team it drew 1-1 on Wednesday at the Jan Breydelstadion stadium in Bruges and left neither the supporters nor Pochettino satisfied.
"We lacked solidity, but the performance in a game does not make us doubt the path we have set ourselves," said the Murphy-born coach, who considered it likely to make modifications to the game system of his team.
Anyway, he assessed that the criticism after equality in Belgium had been excessive because the team is just taking shape.
“If PSG draws in Bruges, everything I had been saying up to that point is called into question.
It is normal that we need time to generate automatisms and that ties are created between the players.
It just takes time.
We have an enormously talented team and sooner or later we will find the results we want, ”he said.
After the draw against Bruges for the Champions League, Mauricio Pochettino hopes that his team will improve its performance as the matches progress.
(Photo: Benoit Tessier / Reuters)
With Messi confirmed for the match that the leader of Ligue 1 (he won his five games) will assume against Lyon (he has eight points in the tournament), the great doubt revolves around the presence of Kylian Mbappé, who suffers from ankle discomfort. “Today he trained with the group, taking some precaution, but we are happy with the evolution. We will see how he responds tomorrow to see if he will be part of the team ”, explained the DT.
Pochettino also took the opportunity to establish a position on the overload of games in the calendar and defended the interests of the club that pays him his salary every month.
“In a few weeks there will be another international date and the South American footballers that we have in the squad will travel again and even play on the same day as our match against Angers.
It's a bit of a crazy situation, but we will have to adapt, ”he lamented.
“Sometimes the clubs are helpless in these situations.
As a club, we have a lot of empathy with the players and we put ourselves in their situation.
But it is an issue to review in the future because sometimes the economic and sporting benefits of the federations take precedence over those of the clubs, "he warned.
They deny information about Messi's contract
Leonardo de Araújo, PSG sports director, denied this Saturday the information published by
L'Equipe
about Messi's contract, who, according to the newspaper, would earn 110 million euros in the three years of ties with the French club, a figure that it would be "very far from reality," said the Brazilian leader.
"We did not like it. (The information published) It is very far from reality, in the duration and in the figures. There are confidentiality clauses, but I can assure you that it is not the truth," Leonardo said before the press conference of Pochettino.
On the eve of
Leo's
debut
at the Parc
des
Princes,
L'Equipe
published the player's "giant's salary": at least 110 million euros in three years. "The duration of the contract is two years" and not three, Leonardo rectified. "It is a lack of respect. One cannot make a mistake like that in the content," he remarked.
