September 10, 2011. Barcelona arrived in Anuata to meet Real Sociedad, and Pep Guardiola decided to keep Lionel Messi on the bench.
The star returned from the Argentina national team games and the coach also thought about the meeting with Milan in the Champions League, but this move surprised many, especially Messi himself.
He did enter the final half hour, right after Antoine Griezmann equalized to make it 2-2 for the Basques, but did not make an impact and did not hide his anger.
For days Messi refused to talk to Pep or the staff.
Since then, Guardiola has not dared to bench him again.
"Leo needs to talk a little, listen carefully to what he has to say, and most importantly: not take him off the field, not even towards the end of the game to get applause from the crowd," the 2012 coach explained.
Two years later, already outside Barcelona, he was more determined: "Every time Messi is on the bench, it opens the door to scandal."
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A decade later, Guardiola's remarks were reaffirmed in Paris.
Mauricio Pochettino took Messi out in the 76th minute, in a 1-1 draw against Lyon, and gave the signal for a media commotion that subsided only when it became clear that the star was injured in the knee.
After all, during the substitution, Messi looked surprised and did not shake the coach's hand.
That was enough to light the fire and paint Messi's first month as a Paris Saint-Germain player in gloomy colors.
Now Guardiola is coming to Paris to help him change the picture.
Change the image of the first month.
Lionel Messi surprised after substitution against Lyon (Photo: Reuters)
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At 34, Messi is experiencing a reality he did not know.
For the first time in his career he found himself at the center of the transfer market.
And this time for real, after leaving him no choice.
He is required to leave his comfort zone for the first time after 21 years and live in a place other than Barcelona.
A new country, a new city, a new language, a new league.
A completely different reality.
So there is a pampering luxury hotel until the move to the huge villa he rented in Paper-sur-Saint (20,000 euros per month) alongside friends Angel Di Maria and Andrew Pardes, and a close bond was forged with former rival Sergio Ramos, but it is still a new experience and initially devoid of privacy.
In Barcelona, Messi lived in a secluded mansion, in an area that was even banned from flying.
In Paris it is in the heart of the bustle.
"The people here respect and let you in if you go out, but with Messi it's different," Di Maria testified. "If he comes for dinner, there are always motorcycles and vehicles in the area." The 33-year-old midfielder accompanies the Messi family almost every time they leave the city, serves as an interpreter and also guides Leo in his daily life within the club. In France he has already been nicknamed the "bodyguard", and an article in L'Equipe explained: "There is a joke in the locker room that if anyone wants Messi, he should look behind Pardes and Di Maria."
In between was also another trip with the Argentine team (saturated with emotions after winning the Copa America) during which Messi was brutally beaten in a meeting with Venezuela and actually suffered a knee injury that caused him to miss the last two league games, so even physically the situation was not optimal. Bottom line: Messi has not found his place yet. He is still in the explorations stage.
Provides close accompaniment in the group as well.
Angel Di Maria with Lionel Messi (Photo: GettyImages, Agustin Marcarian - Pool / Getty Images)
Guardiola always knew how to find Messi his place in Barcelona.
He is also the one who invented for him the role of the imaginary 9th and brought him to a record season of 73 goals in all competitions.
Even if there were isolated clashes - bringing in Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2009 or the same bench against Real Sociedad in 2011 - the two developed a close relationship that allowed the two to take off.
The combination between them yielded many magical moments that entered the annals of world football and they helped each other reach greatness.
"I wanted to make Messi the best player in the world, and in the end he made me the best coach," Guardiola previously admitted. Each of them proved that he could succeed and devour degrees even without the help of the other, but the highlight was together. Pep has 14 titles and two Champions League wins with Messi (2009 and 2011). Without him he would not have lifted the trophy again with his big ears. Together with Pep and in the glorious tiki-taka days of Barcelona, Messi achieved the golden ball three times in a row and in two cases also the golden shoe. He has since won the Champions League just one more time (2015).
In the summer of 2020, when Messi asked to leave Barcelona, the direction was a reunion with Guardiola at Manchester City, although the coach himself has made it clear on various occasions that for him the flea must end his career at Barça. A year later, when the breakup became real, this option was no longer on the agenda. City had just signed Jack Grilish and Pep admitted that bringing in Messi was unrealistic. Then the lottery came and arranged it for him again as an opponent.
Many successes apart, but the highlight was together.
Lionel Messi alongside Pep Guardiola, 2010 Golden Ball (Photo: GettyImages, Michael Steele)
Messi has played four times in the past against Guardiola's teams - he has won both home games and lost twice away.
In 2014/15 he scored a double in the semi-final against Bayern Munich, on the way to Barcelona's last Champions League win.
Two years later, the Argentine became the first player to score a hat-trick against a Guardiola side, leading Barça to a 4-0 home win over Manchester City in the home leg.
In return he settled for one goal (a 3: 1 loss in England) and in total he has six goals in four games against Pep.
PSG will be happy to see him preserve this homely tradition and make the opening in the City of Lights.