It’s been a slow start to life in the French capital for Lionel Messi, but he is as important a part of the Paris Saint-Germain front line as Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
Perhaps never more so than now as the Brazilian finds himself injured until the new year.
Regardless of that, the Argentinian is one of the best to have ever played the game and is certainly one of the best in Ligue Un.
However, that hasn’t stopped him being snubbed when it has come to picking the French top-flight’s team of the year.
As with every year, and in the major European leagues, players who’ve played a minimum of 900 minutes are selected according to the CIES Performance Index which is powered by data provided by Opta.
The teams are then complied by the CIES Football Observatory, and Messi’s colleagues, Mbappe, Gueye, Kimpembe and Hakimi have all found a place in the XI.
As have Jonas Omlin, Nayef Aguerd, Boubacar Kamara, Seko Fofana, Romain Faivre and Dimitri Payet.
The one remaining place has been handed to Arsenal reject, William Saliba.
Since playing for Marseille, 20-year-old Saliba has looked a different player entirely to the one that pitched up in North London and was swiftly sent packing by Mikel Arteta.
It’s not too often that Messi doesn’t get amongst the awards, but on this occasion he can reflect on what’s not gone quite right in his first few months since leaving Barcelona, and look to improve during the second half of the campaign.
Saliba has earned his place,it was not given to him. This hatred for Arsenal and the players must stop. When they don’t perform,you give them blows, so why can’t you give them their applause when it’s deserving.