The Argentina national team will resume their FIFA World Cup qualifying matches this week. Despite both players dealing with injuries, Paris Saint-Germain’s Lionel Messi and Leandro Paredes received a call-up for their games against Uruguay and Brazil.
PSG Sporting director Leonardo was annoyed at sending both players, even more so when Messi deals with a hamstring injury that kept him away from the match against Bordeaux.
During an interview with Le Parisien (via Marca), the Brazilian club chief stated that it’s not logical to send both of their players considering they’re not 100-percent.
“We do not agree to let a player go to their national team who, for us, is not in physical condition or who is in the rehabilitation phase. This is not logical, and this type of situation warrants that we define a real agreement with FIFA,” Leonardo said.
The 34-year-old missed the game against Bordeaux after traveling to Madrid for therapy to work on the discomfort in his hamstrings that led to him missing the UEFA Champions League match against RB Leipzig.
It’s understandable why PSG is upset. Argentina is comfortably in second place and on its way to qualifying for the World Cup next year. Meanwhile, the capital club risks seeing Messi further injury his hamstring and derail their plans of winning the Champions League.