Lionel Messi ‘impatient’ to get started with new chapter at Paris St Germain
Lionel Messi is likely to start when PSG go up against Real Madrid in tonight’s Champions League tie. And, had the Los Blancos got their way, the forward would have been in their team instead. Fortunately for the Ligue 1 giants, his love of Barcelona meant that was never a problem.
The Catalan giants signed the Argentina international as a youngster and, though his size represented an issue, they placed a great deal of faith in him.
Speaking in 2013, he said: “When I was 11 years old they discovered that I had a growth hormone deficiency and I had to start a treatment to help me to grow.
“Every night I had to stick a needle into my legs, night after night after night, every day of the week, and this over a period of three years.
“I was so small, they said that when I went onto the pitch, or when I went to school, I was always the smallest of all.
“It was like this until I finished the treatment and I then started to grow properly.”
Lionel Messi could be playing for Real Madrid against PSG (Image: GETTY)
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Lionel Messi has struggled for PSG ahead of Real Madrid clash (Image: GETTY)
Yet Real dominated the competition between 2016 and 2018, winning the competition three years on the trot during that spell.
Speaking ahead of the match, meanwhile, PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino backed his star man to deliver.
Messi has scored just six goals for the club since moving from Barcelona on a free transfer back in the summer.
And Pochettino said: “Leo is in good form, he has great desire, these are the nights that are important for his talent.
“It’s clear he’ll play an integral role in the match and in terms of what he transmits to his team-mates.”
Lionel Messi would have played alongside Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid (Image: GETTY)
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Well-known Canal+ analyst Pierre Menes, meanwhile, has slammed Pochettino for not getting the best out of Messi so far.
Menes said recently: "I thought that Pochettino understood after the match against Lille that Messi was better in a more advanced position. But no, not at all.
"He made him play again in a leading position, sometimes on the right, sometimes on the left, sometimes in the middle...essentially, in a position where he clearly no longer has the physicality to dominate the game.
"At his age and with his talent in front of goal, he would be much more useful to PSG.