Lionel Messi acted as a ‘mediator’ to help quell a ‘feud’ between his Paris Saint-Germain attacking teammates Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.
Mbappe and Neymar fell out over the order of penalty takers in the team during the Ligue 1 clash against Montpellier earlier this month, after the Brazilian did not allow his teammate to take PSG's second spot-kick after the Frenchman had seen his first effort saved.
The fallout did not stop there, as Neymar went on to 'like' two social posts that slammed Mbappe over the episode, including a post that said the Frenchman “controlled” the club. That comment was within the context of reports claiming that Mbappe would hold great sway in the club's sporting decisions as part of his new three-year contract extension with the Ligue 1 champions.
Former Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos was reportedly forced to step in to separate the feuding pair in the dressing room after that incident. PSG boss Christophe Galtier moved to tackle the issue head-on by staging a first-team meeting in which the two were rebuked and apologised. There was subsequently an agreement set by the club over the order of the club's penalty takers.
As detailed by L’Équipe, Messi – who is described as being a normally reserved personality who is a quiet voice in the dressing room – was compelled to act to help ease the tension between Neymar and Mbappe.
The Argentine superstar is said to have acted as a moderator in an attempt to bring the two players together and find common ground between the two. It is described as being unusually interventionalist by Messi, who is more comfortable as a reserved figure within the dressing room.
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The penalty takers dispute was not the first moment of contention between PSG’s trio of attacking stars. Indeed, Mbappe’s recent comments over the quality of South American international football drew the ire of both Messi and Neymar.
Mbappe explained: "Argentina and Brazil don't have that level of competition in South America, the football is not as developed as in Europe, that is why most recent World Cup winners have been Europeans."
The comments drew the fury of Brazil boss Tite who responded that they did not “have to play Azerbaijan” to qualify for the World Cup. While none of Mbappe’s PSG teammates have issued a similar response, the comments went down very badly within the dressing room.
