PSG accused of disrespecting Lionel Messi after making soccer's greatest ever lie down on the pitch to block an opposition free kick
Messi was asked to take up the position known colloquially as a "draft excluder" as his teammates defended a Manchester City attack.
Xavier Laine/Getty Images
- The greatest soccer player to have played the game lay down on the floor to block an opponent's shot.
- PSG's Lionel Messi was seen lying down behind his teammates as they defended a free kick.
- The French side beat Manchester City in the Champions League with Messi scoring his first goal for the club.
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Lionel Messi, the greatest soccer player ever, became a human draft excluder on Tuesday night as he was asked to lie down on the floor and block an opponent's shot.
Paris Saint-Germain was defending a free kick from Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League when Messi was seen getting onto the floor behind his teammates' feet.
Xavier Laine/Getty Images
Matthias Hangst/Getty Images
Shooting the ball under the wall has become a popular technique for free kick takers in recent years, with the advent of the so-called "draft excluder" designed to stop goals being scored coming soon after.
It is a common sight in the modern game, but rarely is a player of Messi's calibre called on to hit the deck.
Thankfully for the six-time Ballon d'Or winner, the ball did not him.
Former Manchester United defender turned pundit Rio Ferdinand said it was "disrespectful" to use Messi like that.
-Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) September 28, 2021
"The moment Mauricio Pochettino asked him to do that at the training ground someone should have gone in there and said 'no, no, no, no, this doesn't happen to Leo Messi.'
"You can't. It's disrespectful, I wouldn't have it. If I was in that team I'd say 'no, I'll lay down for you,'" he told BT Sport.
Ferdinand's former Manchester United teammate Owen Hargreaves agreed saying he "couldn't believe it."
Messi opened his PSG goal scoring account since joining in the summer with a goal in the 74th minute to help his side to a 2-0 victory over his former coach Pep Guardiola.
-BT Sport (@btsport) September 28, 2021