Why Lionel Messi wore number ten in the Coupe de France
By Euan Burns
Fans of Paris Saint-Germain and more specifically Lionel Messi were left bewildered recently when the Argentine star wore a number he does not normally display for the Parisian side but is heavily associated with.
Since joining the club from Barcelona, Messi has been wearing the number 30 and has produced some incredible moments in the shirt.
That wasn't the case against Marseille in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France on Wednesday night when Messi was wearing a different number. Here's why.
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The reason for Lionel Messi's shirt number change
It is probably just as well for PSG that Messi and Neymar Jr are friends from their time at Barcelona, otherwise there could have been an issue to address. When Messi joined, the number ten shirt he had been wearing for Barcelona for so many years was occupied by Neymar.
Messi did not create any sort of fuss, though, and decided to take the number 30 shirt. In the Coupe de France though, all of the shirt numbers must be between one and 11, precluding Messi from wearing 30. He decided that, as he did in the prior round against Nice, he would wear the number ten.
That was only possible because Neymar agreed to let Messi take his number ten shirt and the Brazilian wore number 11 instead. There has not been any suggestion that Messi would like to take the number ten shirt from Neymar in the future, he appears content with 30.
What happened in Marseille vs PSG?
Changes to numbers swiftly became the least of Messi and Christophe Galtier's worries as PSG were dumped out of the tournament by their southern rivals.
Marseille were given a penalty in the first half after a clumsy foul from Sergio Ramos. Alexis Sanchez dispatched the spot kick, but Ramos redeemed himself before the break with a great header from a corner to make it 1-1.
The parity only lasted just over ten minutes into the second half as Ruslan Malinovskyi scored a great goal from the edge of the box with his special left foot, making it 2-1 at the Stade Velodrome to the hosts. They held on to win the game and blow the tournament wide open with PSG out.
Lionel Messi's season so far at PSG
Messi has been an absolute mainstay for PSG this season as he has certainly found his feet in Paris. Leading up to the 2022 Qatar World Cup, it was clear that he was hitting a rich vein of form and did not have any fitness issues to contend with.
So far in the 2022/23 campaign for PSG, he has scored 15 times and added 14 assists in 25 games, which is a superb return. In the wake of Kylian Mbappe's injury that has ruled him out of the Champions League last 16 first leg against Bayern Munich, Messi will have even more goalscoring responsibility from Galtier.
Eight of his goals and assists have come in the Champions League and that is where he will really prove his worth to PSG as they strive to achieve that elusive honour.