Pochettino downplays Mbappe incident, does not rule Messi out vs City

Paris, Sep 27 (EFE).- Paris Saint Germain coach Mauricio Pochettino on Monday minimized the rift that involved Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, and opened the door for Lionel Messi’s appearance against Manchester City.

“They are very good guys,” the Argentine coach said at a press conference ahead of their second Champions League group stage game against Manchester City.

After being replaced in PSG’s 2-0 Ligue1 win against Montpellier this weekend, the Frenchman was captured on camera telling a teammate “That beggar won’t pass it on to me”, referring to the Brazilian.

“Things always happen among great soccer players, they are competitors, they want to win, score goals,” he commented on the incident that took place on Saturday.

Both players addressed the issue between them and the coach discussed it with them, Pochettino said.

“The goal is always to win, to achieve the objectives, even if there are small frictions that can create an expansive wave that makes noise outside the team because inside they are nothing,” he added.

On a different note, the Argentine coach did not rule out Messi for the Man. City clash.

The Argentine star missed the previous league games as a precautionary measure due to a left leg bruise he sustained on 19 September.

“Messi is the same as Marco (Verratti), he is progressing well, I think he will be in the squad, but I do not know yet who will start,” he added.

Should he play, Messi, who resumed training on Sunday, will face Pep Guardiola, Manchester City’s coach, who trained him between 2008 and 2012 at Barcelona.