Lionel Messi has been extraordinary in his return with PSG after winning the Qatar 2022 World Cup. The 35-year old star has saved his team in recent and crucial games against Montepellier and Toulouse to give them a great eight-point advantage over Marseille and Lens in Ligue 1.
So far, PSG are still alive in the hunt to win the three most important competitions in the same year. They have a strong lead in Ligue 1, Bayern Munich will be their rivals in the Round of 16 in the Champions League and they have a blockbuster matchup against Olympique Marseille in the French Cup (Coupe de France).
In a very surprising turn of events, the traditional Coupe de France produced something we rarely see with Lionel Messi. A major change in his jersey number at PSG. Read here to find out why that happened.
PSG vs Olympique Marseille: Why Lionel Messi changed his jersey number in the Coupe de France?
Since his arrival to PSG in 2021, Lionel Messi decided not to wear number 10 in his jersey, because Neymar have been playing with it for many years in the French club. That's why Messi took the decision to use number 30. Even with that first change, Lionel Messi broke every possible record with the amount of shirts sold by PSG.
Now, in the French Cup (Coupe de France), Lionel Messi was forced to make another change. This traditional tournament only allows starting players to use numbers from 1 to 11. So, Messi had not available number 30 for the Round of 16 game against Olympique Marseille.
In something we rarely see at PSG, Lionel Messi had to change his jersey number and took the field with the legendary 10. There were many rumors swirling regarding if he might use numbers such as 9 or 11. He could have taken number 7, considering Kylian Mbappe won't play following an injury.
In the end, the only chance for Messi to wear number 10 was if Neymar conceded it to him. That's finally whay happened. Neymar uses number 11 against Olympique Marseille and Messi returned to 10.
It's important to remember that, many years ago, Messi's jersey numbers with Barcelona B were 8, 9 and 11. When he made his debut with the first team, Lionel Messi wore number 30. However, just three seasons later, the legend began when he took number 10 after Ronaldinho left the club.
