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Lionel Messi is 'exempt from certain tasks' at Paris Saint-Germain

Home> Football

Updated 15:00 5 Feb 2023 GMTPublished 14:55 5 Feb 2023 GMT

Lionel Messi is 'exempt from certain tasks' at Paris Saint-Germain

PSG manager Christophe Galtier has admitted Lionel Messi does not have to do the same work as his teammates.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Paris Saint-Germain manager Christophe Galtier has admitted Lionel Messi is so good that he is "exempt" from certain tasks.

Now 35, you rarely see the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner sprinting all over the pitch like he did back in the day. Instead, Messi comes alive in moments of brilliance - as seen in his incredible and triumphant World Cup campaign.

In the absence of both Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, who were both sidelined with injuries, Messi came up with the goods for PSG on Friday night, scoring a stunning strike as the Ligue One champions came from behind to beat Toulouse 2-1 at the Parc des Princes.

Messi is the ultimate luxury player, possessing an unrivalled level of quality with the ball at his feet. And Galtier has explained how he does not ask for much off the ball work from the Barcelona legend, calling for teammates to double their load to bring the best out of him.

Image: Alamy
Image: Alamy

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"I ask the team to play for Leo and work for him," Galtier said in his press conference, as per Get French Football News.

"He must be exempted from certain tasks. His partners must redouble their efforts to recover and create movement so that he find passes, which are so rare in today's football, in such small spaces."

Image: Alamy
Image: Alamy

A lot is made about Messi spending a lot of time walking on the pitch, with some even branding him "lazy". It came after he had incredibly high walking stats at the World Cup in Qatar.

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But the strolling without the ball is actually a tactic which allows him to conserve energy and see where the space is.

"He's not out of the game. He's involved," Pep Guardiola, his former manager, told Amazon Prime.

"Moving his head. Right, left, left, right. He’s not running, but he’s always watching what’s happening.

"He smells who is the weak point of the back four. After five, 10 minutes, he has the map. He knows if I move here, here, I will have more space to attack."

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

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

Josh Lawless
Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and WWE. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has covered two WrestleMania events for SPORTbible.

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@joshlawless_

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