Lionel Messi is one of the best players on the planet, as the Argentinian keeps on proving everybody wrong even at 34. He won his seventh Ballon d’Or this season, beating Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski and Chelsea midfielder Jorginho to the top spot.

However, he isn’t having the best time in Ligue 1 with Paris Saint Germain as he has only scored one goal and provided four assists in 12 games. Moreover, he has looked slow and sluggish at times and was recently benched for PSG’s match against Stade de Reims.

Why Mauricio Pochettino benched Messi

Messi hadn’t played any football for a month because of the winter break in France and being diagnosed with COVID-19. He needs to get back to match fitness, as he needs to find his form again. Pochettino is being cautious with him and started him on the bench against Stade de Reims as they started with a front three of Angel di Maria, Kylian Mbappe, and Mauro Icardi.

PSG didn’t really get going until the end of the first half as Marco Veratti opened the scoring in the 44th minute. They really got going in the second half after going up by 3-0 in the 67th minute. Pochettino finally brought Messi on for the final 26 minutes, and the Argentinian forward was involved in the third goal. Danilo Pereira added a fourth in the 75th minute to informally end the match.

Lionel Messi and his prospects for PSG this season

The Argentinian forward might not have had the best time in the league, but he has had a stellar season in Europe. Messi has scored five goals in five group stage matches in the UCL for PSG and helped them progress to the knockout stages of the competition.

PSG are going to face Real Madrid in the Round of 16, and surely, it will be hard to beat the Spanish club. Madrid have been in good form and are sitting at the top of La Liga. Carlo Ancelotti has got them back to their best and it’ll be interesting to see who wins in this battle of the giants.

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