Football fans have been less than impressed by Lionel Messi’s debut with Paris Saint-Germain because of the cameo appearance coming on from the bench only from the 66th minute onwards for the long-awaited PSG-Reims game by both PSG and Messi’s fans worldwide.
The world’s most renowned and best-loved Argentine, since Diego Maradona, Messi left the entire football universe shell-shocked when he joined the French club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on a totally unexpected move on 10 August following his emotional parting of ways from Barcelona, where he had played his entire professional career. His highly-anticipated debut for the Parc des Princes club has been delayed several times after he was left out of the squad’s starting eleven after his triumphant return from the Copa America, having finally led Argentina to his first international top trophy honors to break his jinx.
Sunday’s away match against Reims crossed the 66th minute – with PSG leading 2-0 courtesy of the magnificent brace from Kylian Mbappe – which was the bewitching minute when PSG boss, Mauricio Pochettino, replaced Neymar with Messi, with the substitution of course intended to be more of a symbolic act rather than an attempt to influence a game that was already more or less in the books for the Parisians.
According to Pochettino, Messi still needs time to adapt to his new team and get in shape, which makes absolutely perfect sense from an ideal football point of view. The iconic striker didn’t score and only managed one shot on goal although it was obvious he hasn’t lost his magical touch or skills as he moved at a comfortable pace to adapt to the new French football environment and pace of play.
“He is still far away from his best form but he has been training well and he will be fit in the next two weeks, after the international break and, yes, we are waiting for the best from him”, Pochettino told Amazon Prime.
Fans, of course, were not exactly jubilant nor impressed with the Argentine’s truncated debut, immediately taking to Twitter to express their displeasure with Pochettino’s decision.
Messi had deliberately been left out of PSG’s earlier two games by Pochettino as he was not in match-ideal form after having laid off right after helping Argentina achieve its first international victory with him at the Copa America final against traditional rivals Brazil.