09/20/2021 10:14
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 09/20/2021 10:14
"This is Paris." A white T-shirt with that message and a smile after so many tears were the postcard of Lionel Messi landing in Paris Saint-Germain. It was the transfer that shook the European pass market after the traumatic departure of La Pulga from Barcelona. Everything was expected to be rosy in this marriage between the best footballer of today and one of the most powerful clubs on the planet if you measure the size of your wallet. But no. Mauricio Pochettino's team is still in training -something logical considering the time of the season- and
Messi became a difficult piece to fit into this puzzle of superstars.
The test was in evidence this Sunday in the Park of the Princes. It was the premiere for Leo in his new home. And it was not a happy debut, beyond the fact that the final plate marks an agonizing 2-1 victory, thanks to the saving header of Mauro Icardi, which allows PSG to be the only leader in Ligue 1, with 18 points out of 18 possible and with a five-unit advantage over Olympique de Marseille -which counts one game less for that suspension after the savage pitched battle in Nice-.
It was not a happy debut in his new home
- he had already played in Reims for Ligue 1 and in Bruges for the Champions League - because Messi could not celebrate a goal - he had three clear situations, including a heads-up that he lost with Anthony Lopes and a free kick that hit at an angle - and because he was replaced with 15 minutes remaining.
Messi comes out, Hakimi enters.
Photo: EFE
And that output, beyond the analysis of looks and crosswords that adds bytes and more bytes of data in social networks and on websites, as well as centimeters and centimeters in paper newspapers, makes noise because it is not normal.
It is not normal because the popular belief is that Messi never leaves every time he enters as a starter.
And
the perception is not wrong
.
Always inside
If all the games he played in clubs since 2010 are counted, Messi played 371 games for local leagues and was substituted only 18 times, of which 9 were due to injuries.
If you look back on his entire career, the Rosario played 554 games from the first minute and was only replaced 54 times.
You can't say it never comes out, but ...
In this 2021, for example, Messi had only been replaced once during his last stage in Barcelona.
It was last January when the Dutch coach Ronald Koeman, who today suffers a media and leadership bombardment.
He decided to take him out in the duel against Granada, which was already 4-0 in favor of the Catalans thanks to the double of La Pulga.
A completely different context than the 1-1 partial against Lyon and his departure to make room for Moroccan Achraf Hakimi, who is considered the best right-back in the world, but still a side marker.
And that, with the result set, did not change the tone of the game at all.
Against Granada, on January 9, 2021, Koeman took out Messi.
It was the only time this year.
Photo: AP
"We made the decision to remove Leo Messi due to a possible injury in the future. Important games are coming and we have to protect him. They are decisions we make for the team. Everyone knows that we have great players, we have to make decisions. Sometimes He can be attractive. I asked him how he was doing and he said, 'Okay, no problem.' That's what we said to each other. Everyone knows he's a great player, but we have five changes and we are there to make decisions. "
, explained Pochettino, with the face of a poker player, when consulted by the press after the game.
Will this be a new normal for Messi?
Will you have to get used to rotating much more than you did in Barcelona?
It is clear that he must share the poster with Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, who also has a long face after his frustrated departure for Real Madrid.
It is also clear that the Argentine had almost no preseason and that a super conflictive situation is coming that prevents him, for now, from having the ideal set-up.
In addition, with trips in the middle with the National Team, where he plays every minute.
And we must not forget that he is already 34 years old.
And that it is not bad to dose energy.
Pochettino watches as Messi leaves the field.
Photo: AFP
That will be the big problem that Pochettino will have, in addition to ensuring that the team has the proper functioning to go with everything in the Champions League: making all its figures happy with the minutes they have.
And Messi's is a special case.
It is a super competitive animal that wants to show its validity, that it was the pattern in Barcelona and that it still could not show its best version in PSG.
He could not even score goals in the three games he has played - with just under 200 minutes on the court.
With his pasture mentality, Messi understands that he never has to go out.
Hence the face that became the postcard on Sunday.
It tastes the same as Wednesday in Metz, for a new date in Ligue 1, it will have a rematch.
And Cristiano Ronaldo ...
Lingard enters, CR7 leaves.
Photo: AFP
A fact in favor of the Argentine DT.
It happened last week, during the initial date of the group stage of the Champions League.
It happened in Switzerland in the 26th minute of the second half.
At that moment of the match between Young Boys and Manchester United, the English coach, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, decided to take out Cristiano Ronaldo.
The game was also 1-1.
His place was taken by Jesse Lingard, a hero on Sunday against West Ham United, but a villain that night when he delivered the ball for the home team's winning goal after Jordan Siebatcheu's apiolate.
Messi and Ronaldo are two that never go out
.
Or rather, there are two who never went out.
At 34 and 36, perhaps this is the new rule for the top two footballers of the last two decades.
Look also
Messi's debut in the Parque de los Príncipes: a gala party that ended with the crack on the bench, Pochettino in the spotlight and Icardi as a hero
Mauricio Pochettino's explanation about why he took out Lionel Messi
