Why Lionel Messi wore Neymar's No.10 shirt for Paris Saint-Germain, it was the second time
Lionel Messi wore Neymar's No.10 for Paris Saint-Germain in their shock Coupe de France defeat to Marseille on Wednesday night.
Messi has wore the No.30 ever since he signed for PSG, reverting to back to his first ever shirt number at Barcelona.
But for the second time, he wore the No.10 shirt he is most synonymous with as PSG were eliminated by Marseille at Stade Velodrome.
Alexis Sanchez put Marseille 1-0 up with a penalty before Sergio Ramos levelled just before half-time.
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Ruslan Malinovskyi popped up with the winner in the 57th minute as PSG crashed out of the French Cup at the round of 16 stage.
Messi and his PSG colleagues, as well as the Marseille player in the starting XIs, all wore traditional 1-11 shirt numbers in line with the ruling in Coupe de France, the traditional cup competition. Subs also have to wear numbers below 25 and there were no player names on the back.
It meant that Messi was back wearing his favourite number and Neymar went back to his Barcelona and Santos days with No.11.
He had previously offered to give the No.10 to Messi when he moved to the French capital but the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner is said to have politely turned down the proposal.
Messi also wore No.10 in a Coupe de France fixture in Neymar's absence last season but that also ended in a loss as PSG were beaten 6-5 on penalties by Nice after a 0-0 draw.
After he added both the Copa America and World Cup to his collection, the Coupe de France is the only trophy Messi has failed to lift out all the silverware available to him.
Messi surprised fans with his reaction to Ramos equalising as he passionately celebrated the goal.
Leo Messi’s reaction to the Sergio Ramos goal.. 🇦🇷👀
— PSG Report (@PSG_Report) February 8, 2023
pic.twitter.com/1MwtchvXpY
They have been teammates for a fair amount of time now but it seems many still can't get used it given their intense rivalry when playing for Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively.
Topics: Paris Saint-Germain, Lionel Messi, Neymar
Josh Lawless