Messi angry as Pochettino subs him out in the 76th minute
Paris Saint-Germain manager Pochettino took Messi out and put Achraf Hakimi in during the tied game against Lyon and Messi was not too happy about it.
It’s not typical to see a star like Lionel Messi come out of a game that’s got 15 minutes left and is tied 1-1. But PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino decided that was indeed the best move last night when PSG was tied with Lyon.
PSG makes comeback in second half
After the first half of the game, during which Messi struck the post on a free kick, Lyon took the lead in the second half. Neymar scored the goal to tie the game in the 66th minute. Shortly after, the controversial substitution occurred.
In the 72nd minute of the game, Messi showed signs of possible knee pain. Then, cameras showed him giving a thumbs up like it were no problem. A few minutes later, he was substituted out. Messi looked bitter about the decision as he walked off the field, snubbing Pochettino.
In the postgame conference, Pochettino explained to reporters. “Everybody knows that Messi is a great player. There are five subs and it's obvious that players never like to come off the field," he said. "One has to make decisions. I'm on the bench to make decisions. His reaction? Fine, no worries."
This was Messi’s first home game at Parc de Princes with PSG since signing with the club on August 10th of this year. Surely he wanted to leave a good impression for the first game in front of his new home crowd. Messi is not a player who gets subbed out often, just four times since the 2017/18 season and 71 times in his 804 appearances. So the decision seemed to throw him off a bit. It’s still unclear whether Pochettino took him off the field because of the potential for injury or if it was a tactical decision.
PSG ended up winning against Lyon 2-1 when, not Messi, Neymar, or Mbappé, but rather Mauro Icardi scored the winning goal in the 82nd minute of the game, after Messi’s substitution.