“It was 45 minutes that were unworthy of Messi’s legendary talent”
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A bent superstar: Lionel Messi has so far played well below his potential in Paris. Now the criticism of the six-time world footballer is getting louder
What: REUTERS
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Lionel Messi is still looking for his role on the pitch at Paris Saint-Germain. The six-time world footballer is still without a goal participation in the league. After the game against Lille, the criticism of Messi reached new heights.
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AFrance’s largest sports newspaper “L’Equipe” was also unwilling to gloss over Lionel Messi’s performance. The six-time world footballer received a grade of 3 for his 45-minute stint against OSC Lille – 10 would have been the best possible rating. The paper wrote: “It seemed as if the Argentine, in whatever position, was not able to use his incredible technique to the advantage of his teammates.” Messi appeared “imprecise and awkward”.
After replacing the superstar in the 2-1 win at Paris Saint-Germain against the reigning champions from Lille, Mauricio Pochettino tried to keep the issue as small as possible. It was a “precautionary measure”, the Paris coach assured the “L’Equipe”. “He couldn’t go on playing. I hope it’s not a big deal, ”explained Pochettino. Now he hopes that Messi will be “available” again for the duel in the Champions League on Wednesday (9 p.m. / DAZN) against RB Leipzig.
PSG had previously extended their league lead in Ligue 1 with their tenth win of the season. The championship team from Lille took the lead in the Prinzenpark through Jonathan David in the 31st minute. Marquinhos (74th) equalized before Angel Di Maria made the hosts’ success perfect in the 88th minute.
Lionel Messi (left) and Neymar have not yet been able to build on their joint brilliant achievements from their times at FC Barcelona in Paris
Source: ANP Sport via Getty Images / ANP Sport
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“We won and were better in all respects, there is no doubt about that,” said Pochettino, but also criticized: “We have to play better and we want to play better. Such an idea is not good enough for us. “
Messi continues without a scorer point
However, Messi’s compatriot had also noticed that PSG had not taken place offensively in the first half. “Lille knows us well. We weren’t able to feed our attacking players and take control of the game, ”said Pochettino. The PSG coach did not want to overestimate the fact that Messi had not even been on the pitch during the race to catch up. “But I don’t think that swapping a single player or a single position changes everything.”
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Messi, who came up in the wrong nine against Lille, has not yet scored a single scorer point in five games and a total of 325 minutes of playing time in Ligue 1. According to the statistics service provider “Opta”, no player in the French league has shot at goal as often unsuccessfully (15) as the exceptional Argentinian player.
Leonardo, sporting director at PSG, struck unusually harsh tones after the win against Lille. “In these two months he spent more time with his national team than here. In the last international break he played three games and now he has muscle problems ”, Leonardo rumbled to the Argentine sports newspaper“ Olé ”.
“It was 45 minutes that were unworthy of his legendary talent. He was imprecise in front of the goal and in his passports ”, criticized“ Le Figaro ”, but also classified Messi’s unfortunate appearance again. After all, the superstar is not the only PSG player who is more likely to “stammer” football.
