Messi waited more than a month to make his home debut for Paris Saint-Germain, and of course didn't expect it to end with him being substituted as his side struggled to win against Lyon.
Messi looked completely overwhelmed when he was replaced by Ashraf in the 76th minute and didn't try to hide his anger, giving Pochettino a "death stare" as he walked to the bench and then snubbed the coach's outstretched hand.
Pochettino's decision proved right as Icardi's injury time helped the team win 2-1, but Messi's frustrated reaction to the substitution became an overriding topic after the game.
Messi is not used to being substituted, but he has now been replaced by Pochettino as many times as he has been in his last three seasons at Barcelona, and he has not been replaced in any league match in 2017/18.
Pochettino justified the decision after the game, saying he didn't want to risk Messi's injury, but he made a bold move that clearly made his point that the needs of the team must precede the needs of star players.
Messi has a long history of challenging coaches, even strong coaches like Guardiola and Luis Enrique.
Let's review other decisions made by coaches during the Jawa period that Messi disagreed with. Each time, the Argentine ended up winning the battle against his coach.
< h1 class = "pgc-h-center-line" > a contradiction with Enrique after not starting for Real Sociedad</h1>
The most famous rift between Messi and the coach in January 2015 was luis Enrique coming off the bench in a La Liga match at Real Sociedad.
The seemingly logical decision at first led to Messi nearly leaving the team and threatening luis Enrique's job, leading to the convening of the presidency and the dismissal of sporting director Subisaretta.
Messi had just returned from a Christmas holiday in Argentina and Enrique decided not to let him start in his first game back, against Real Sociedad away to David Moyes.
Real Sociedad took the lead with Alba's oolong ball, with Enrique replacing Messi and Neymar after half-time, but Moyes' side ended up winning a famous victory that weakened Barca's chances of winning the title but most importantly caused an earthquake in Catalonia.
The next day Messi was rarely absent from an open training session and even missed the team's annual children's hospital visit.
Barca tried to blame his absence on a stomach problem, but their excuses failed to fool anyone, especially due to an anthroposiac interview by Xavi Hernandez a few days ago, in which he revealed that "gastroenteritis in the football world sounds like an excuse".
Club legend Enrique was booed by fans in his next match against Elche, with reports in the Spanish media that Messi had urged president Bartomeu to sack the coach and threatened to leave if he did not.
Xavi's intervention only bridged the rift between Messi and Enrique, and when Barca beat defending champions Atletico Madrid 3-1 the following week, things began to improve, winning the stunning treble at the end of the season.
Enrique later acknowledged that there were "periods of tension" with Messi, but said for now he could only say "good things" to argentines.
But the always wayward coach has learned that even he can't impose his authority on this talented player.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-center-line" > refused to train after being substituted by Guardiola</h1>
Luis Enrique is not the only authority figure that Messi opposes.
Guardiola replaced each one with Pedro in his first season at the helm of the club in a 4-0 win over Valencia. Considering that his team has scored four goals and only has 9 minutes of play time, the decision seems irrelevant.
But according to Catalan radio station RAC1, Messi didn't think so, and announced that he intended to miss training the next day.
After a series of phone calls, Barca's players persuaded him to finally leave his home, but once on the training ground, he refused to change into his shirt.
Barca have said publicly that Messi is not training because he is being treated for injuries, although they have privately fined Messi.
Still, Messi has made his point clear and has been replaced only once in the league that season.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" > text message about Ibrahimović</h1>
In addition to being replaced at the end of the game, Messi felt a bigger problem in the following season: Ibrahimovic's excellent form.
Barca spent 46 million euros to sign Ibrahimovic from Inter milan and sent Samuel Eto'o.
Although he later complained that Barca were too much like a school with strict rules, Ibrahimovic had a wonderful start to his life at Camp Nou, scoring 11 La Liga goals in his first four months, including a winning goal in the national derby against Real Madrid.
But Messi saw the Swedes as a threat and texted Guardiola.
Messi, who was only 22 years old at the time, was too shy to express his thoughts directly to the coach, so he sent him a text message when he sat in the back row of the team bus.
"I can see that I don't matter to the team anymore, so..." wrote in a 2012 book called The Messi Mystery.
Messi was very unhappy with Ibrahimovic's central role in the team and was forced to switch to playing on the right after playing the "False Nine" in the second half of last season.
The Argentine quickly regained his position in the middle, with Ibrahimovic switching to the right wing, where he was inefficient and less maneuverable.
The Swede did not fare well late in the season and soon left the club for AC Milan, while Messi remained at the club and went on to become Barca's all-time top scorer and player of the year.
Even a proven star and volcanic personality like Ibrahimovic couldn't stop him, and the Swedes never forgave Guardiola.
"Pep prefers to make Messi happy — he doesn't value me," he wrote in his autobiography.
< H1 class= "pgc-h-center-line" > slammed Setien's player choices</h1>
Messi, who has a good relationship with Ernesto Valverde, did not take long to express his displeasure with the coach's dismissal and posted on Instagram slamming sporting director Eric Abidal's decision.
It was a bit surprising when the team didn't get off to the best start under Valverde's successor, Kirk Setien, and questioned the new coach's decision less than a month into his tenure.
Simon Cooper, author of Barca: The Inside Story of the World's Greatest Football Club, revealed Messi was outraged by Setien for choosing other left-backs instead of his longtime team-mate Alba in a Real Betis game.
According to Cooper, Setien asked Messi what they thought of the team's performance at halftime as they equalized twice, making it 2-2 at half-time.
"What do you think of me?" Messi asked, "This is not a youth team!" Messi shouted. "Use your best players."
Setien quickly did as he was told, replacing Alba with Firpo and Barca winning 3-2.
Setien later told former Spain coach Bosque in The Nations how tough it was to coach Messi.
"He's reserved, but he'll let you know what he wants. He didn't talk much. But he's observing," he said.
"If they've accepted him here for so many years and never asked him to adapt, how could I possibly change him?"
Messi is undoubtedly a great player, but even the greatest player is a person, for a player of this level, a strong competitive spirit is essential, even if his personality is introverted and low-key, but it does not mean that he does not have personality. Therefore, there is nothing harsh about what he did in the golden age of his career. Put it this way, imagine that any person, such as ourselves, becomes the first person in the world in their field, and perhaps what we do may even be exaggerated many times.