At Paris Saint-Germain, Lionel Messi’s suspension is over, and no one is happy than the club itself.
Messi “will be a starter” for PSG’s home game against Ajaccio on Saturday, boss Christophe Galtier told reporters. “I talked to him on Tuesday to find out how he felt, and he was very eager to play.”
Messi was suspended for two weeks for taking an unauthorized trip to Saudi Arabia, where he works as a paid spokesman for the country’s tourist board. However, he is now back a week early. Messi said he was sorry and that he thought the team had the day off, but in the meantime, PSG beat Troyes 3-1 without him.
Even though PSG won without Messi, who is almost certainly going to leave the club this summer, they are not quite done with winning Ligue 1. Recent home losses to Lyon and Lorient have left a small window of opportunity for Lens, who are six points behind the reigning champions with four games left to play.
“He’s very eager to win that title,” Galtier said about Messi. “We’ll have to change what we did against Troyes now that he’s on the team. Leo is Leo. I won’t go into numbers, but when he’s with us, we have to find a new balance.”
Messi has had a strange year so far
Messi’s return to the starting lineup for PSG is not that surprising, since he is Messi. But the fact that Galtier had to say it shows how strange things have been at PSG and in Messi’s life since he won his first World Cup last year.
Even though PSG was about to win the league and had a long list of injured players, Messi was jeered at the Parc des Princes after that loss to Lyon, and just a few weeks later, fans called for him to leave the club in front of PSG’s offices.
The news outside of France doesn’t seem to be much better. On the one hand, MLS and Barcelona are publicly trying to sign him, the Saudi Arabian offer to bring him there could be the most lucrative in sports history, and his popularity in Argentina is at an all-time high…Gunmen shot up a grocery store that was owned by his family and left a note that directly named him.
Read More:
- Kevon Walker died: Buffalo football star and SFU freshman
- Trump says he will use the presidential power to ban transgender sports
- Mohamed Salah calms down Liverpool’s nerves as they beat Bologna in the Champions League.
- Tennis star who received death threats after losing the US Open is retiring
- Rory McIlroy: Emotional following a crucial Ryder Cup singles victory