What soccer coach wouldn’t want Lionel Messi on his team? But unless he was appointed coach of the Argentine National Team or was hired by Barcelona, no one could imagine that possibility. Some of that happened to Argentine coach of Paris Saint Germain, Mauricio Pochettino, who confessed that when learning of the arrival of Lionel Messi to the club thought that “it was a joke” since “everyone was sure that he would continue in Barcelona.”
“One day Leonardo (PSG sports manager) called me to tell me: ‘There is the possibility of signing Messi, do you like it or don’t you like it?’. I thought it was a joke. ‘What do you think? Yes or no?’ And I told him: ‘Should we go get it?’“Pochettino revealed in an interview with the Spanish program Cope’s Great Match.
The Santa Fe coach also told how the following days were, until the confirmation of the transfer. “Leonardo called me every night to explain how the negotiation was. At the moment that the possibility of PSG appeared, Leo wanted to come and then, when the pass was agreed, we talked normally with him. We had the advantage that at PSG there were players like Neymar and Di María who had told them what the club and Paris were about “recalled the former Newell’s defender.
Pochettino referred to Messi’s gesture when he decided to replace him in the match against Lyon, on the day of the Argentine star’s debut at the Parque de los Príncipes stadium, and played down its significance. “Leo was surprised because no player wants to leave the field. That day Messi was surprised and I asked him: ‘How are you?’ And he looks at me as if to say: ‘I’m fine’. But it was not more than that what happened “, commented the technician. Later, it was confirmed that Messi had suffered a discomfort in the knee and it lost the following two meetings. “We wanted to protect him from the possibility of injury. Then he was two games without playing and we were lucky that he recovered quickly. And against Manchester City he was decisive in such an important match “, completed DT.
In that sense, he made it clear that it was simply a protective measure for the player, thinking not to aggravate the discomfort. “I say again that there was no intention, beyond protecting and taking care of him. If you have Messi and you go 1- 1 you will have a better chance of winning the game if you have him on the field. It’s a very clear obviousness, “remarked the former Tottenham coach, referring to that match against Lyon, which ended up winning 2-1 in injury time, after replacing Messi in the 75th minute when the match was tied.
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