The coach of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), Mauricio Pochettino, defended Lionel Messi who had not yet performed spectacularly. According to him, Messi still needs time to show his magic in Paris.
For him, La Pulga – a nickname that has not really adjusted since setting foot at the Parc des Princes at the start of the 2021-2022 season. Even though he is the best player in the world, he still needs time to adapt like other players.
Moreover, the former Barcelona captain is increasingly showing progress. He showed this when crushing Lille (February 7) with a landslide score of 5-1. Not only present on the field, Messi is able to score a goal and assist.
“I have no doubts, Leo is the best in the world. But, like anyone, he needs time,” Pochettino was quoted as saying by Marca, Tuesday (8/2/2022).
“He has not played for more than a month because of Covid-19, and it is important that he shows the same participation and commitment he showed against Lille.”
Furthermore, Cristiano Ronaldo’s rival did not only record goals and assists. His statistics when crushing Lille was his best achievement when he was in uniform with Les Parisien – the nickname of PSG.
How not, Messi outperformed any record from his colleagues to finish as man of the match. The following is a review of Messi’s crazy statistics in that match. First, Messi has had more shots than anyone else in the match (5), and has had the most shots on target (3). Then, he also became the player who created the most chances (6).
Not satisfied with that, the captain of the Argentine national team also became the player who dribbled the most (8), and made the most crosses (2). He only lost to Marco Veratti who had 95 touches of the ball. Meanwhile, he only made 90 touches.
Thus, Pochettino just expects the consistency of the game from his star. Given, the Paris camp will be faced with a tough test from Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League, February 16, 2022.
