Without a doubt, the change of Leo Messi yesterday in the second half against Lyon has been one of the news of the season in Ligue 1. PSG was drawing one against the Rhone team and Pochettino decided to replace the Argentine star to the astonishment of the entire public in the Park of the Princes, causing the disbelief of the Rosario with his coach, with whom there was a small crossword.
The change of Messi seemed a priori a technical decision by Pochettino. However, the BeIN Sports cameras yesterday, with a personalized camera to follow Messi's every move, were able to confirm that the player had knee discomfort five minutes before the substitution. The sequence, in minute 71, shows us Messi stretching and with symptoms of fatigue. Some “annoyances” that, however, did not prevent him from following the game normally in the Parque de los Príncipes.
Those stretches may be the main reason why Pochettino decided to rest the striker. At the beginning of the season in which Messi has barely been able to play three games to date And after having had a high load of matches in the Copa América, the technical staff of PSG does not want to risk the slightest bit with the player, who will once again have a golden opportunity against Metz on Wednesday to release his locker in Ligue 1 Yesterday he was able to score twice, but Anthony Lopes and the stick prevented him.
Messi, a strange substitution throughout his career
Since 2010, the Argentine star had only substituted 17 times in 370 games. In 522 league games, only in 52 did he not play the 90 minutes.
That Messi is substituted in a game is already an anomaly, but that he does it with his team drawing is even more significant. Yesterday, against Lyon, Pochettino decided to give him a break in the 77th minute and, although PSG ended up winning in the discount, all the national media in France echoed the image.
According to Opta, a reference website in terms of statistics applied to sport, yesterday's was the The eighteenth time Messi was substituted in the last 11 years. Since 2010, the Rosario had not finished the game starting as a starter in just 17 games out of 370. A revealing statistic, since yesterday, in his first start with PSG in Ligue 1, the Argentine star was substituted with the game still to be decided.
The last time Messi had been substituted was on January 9, but in a game that has nothing to do, due to context and result, with yesterday's against Lyon. In the 0-4 victory at Granada, Koeman decided to rest the player to reserve him for the Spanish Super Cup. According to Opta, Messi has only been substituted in 54 of the 522 games he has played in La Liga.