Lionel Messi's PSG Teammates Have Been Left 'Surprised' By His Behaviour In Dressing Room

Lionel Messi's Paris Saint-Germain teammates have been left shocked by his 'quiet' behaviour in the dressing room, according to Achraf Hakimi.

The six-time Ballon d'Or winner joined PSG from Barcelona in the summer after a 21-year association with the Catalan giants.

He's made three appearances in Ligue 1 so far and Hakimi, who also arrived in the summer from Inter Milan, has opened up Messi's demeanour.

Hakimi told L'Equipe: "For Messi to leave Barca, like everyone else, I didn't expect it. And when I heard you were coming here, what can I say? A dream for me! I played with many great players and the only one I missed was Messi! I am proud to evolve with such a good footballer.

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"To progress, I will pay attention to how he trains, how he plays. It will grow the team and each of the players that make it up.

"We speak the same language, in addition, little by little we are getting to know each other.

"Building a technical relationship with him is easy! I give him the ball, I run and he will put it where it belongs! (Laughs) I was surprised by the way he behaved, he is simple, quiet."

Hakimi replaced Messi during last weekend's 2-1 win over Lyon, which saw Messi appear to refuse a handshake from manager Mauricio Pochettino.

It was revealed post-match that Messi had suffered bruising in his knee and he missed the midweek victory over Metz.

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The 34-year-old also won't be available for Saturday evening's clash with Montpellier as he continues to rest.

PSG are hoping he'll be fit for Tuesday's Champions League Group A showdown with Manchester City.

Pochettino explained: "The club has already communicated Leo's situation and it's clear.

"We had seen that Messi was touching his knee.

"I'm very happy with what he did during the match [against Lyon]. After 75 minutes, taking into account the information we had, we made the decision [to bring him off].

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"Messi is a great champion, and like all great champions, he didn't want to come off.

"I'm happy with his commitment and his performance. He hasn't scored yet, but he played very well."

PSG sit top of Ligue 1 after an unbeaten start and they're seven points ahead of Marseille.

Topics: Paris Saint-Germain, Football, Ligue 1, Lionel Messi

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a journalist for SPORTbible and he has previous experience with Manchester United. He has spoken to some of the biggest names in sport including Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch, WWE COO Triple H and WWE legend The Undertaker. May or may not do a decent impression of Jamie Carragher.

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