Argentine coach Mauricio Pochettino defended his compatriot Lionel Messi, who was criticized for his performance on Tuesday in the match between Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid in the Champions League, considering him “the best player in the world” and “football” in itself.
Messi does not need a certificate that he is the best player in the world, as he won the Golden Ball award for the seventh time in a record achievement, but he was subject to criticism after his performance in the first leg of the final price of the continental competition against Real, where he missed a penalty kick that would have been enough if he scored it to change the course of the meeting Which his team settled with a single goal scored by Kylian Mbappe in the deadly seconds.
But Pochettino defended the former Barcelona star, saying Friday in a press conference, “Leo Messi is the best player in the world. It is football. If you want to explain to someone what football is, you say to him: It is Leo Messi.”
He believed that the penalty kick, which was blocked by Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in the 62nd minute of a match dominated by Saint-Germain completely, “will not shake his confidence in himself, no matter what.”
The Argentine coach was “satisfied with what he did, he was very good against Madrid. His reading of the game is one of the reasons why the team played well. He positioned well and sometimes exchanged positions with other strikers.”
Messi has so far been unable to appear at the level he was in the ranks of Barcelona since he came to “Parc des Princes” last summer in a free transfer deal, and the resentment against him increased after the lackluster performance against his former rivals Real Madrid.
Messi was supported by his friend and former Barcelona teammate, Sergio Aguero, who had to retire due to heart problems, saying on Twitter: “He played well against Real. He broke the lines (at Real). I don’t say that because he is my friend, but because he was good.” “He seemed energetic. In France, magazines and newspapers killed him. They are idiots.”
When asked what Aguero had written, Pochettino said that “I did not follow, I did not read” what was issued by the former Manchester City striker.
AFP