PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino has revealed the truth behind his unexpected subbing of Lionel Messi late in the team’s win over Lyon.

The Sunday Ligue 1 match between Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon marked Lionel Messi’s debut at the Parc des Princes stadium, home of PSG.

The Argentine has yet to net his first goal for PSG but came close with his fantastic free-kick that only hit the crossbar.

Ultimately, Messi struggled in the first half but his former Barcelona co-star Neymar managed to shift the momentum on PSG with his equalizing penalty goal on the 66th minute.

Ten minutes after Neyma’s goal, PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino decided to substitute Messi, an unusual call that generated a lot of buzz after the game.

To his defense, Pochettino insisted that he came up with the decision to take Messi out of the game to avoid “future injury.”

“We made the decision to take [Lionel] Messi off because of a possible future injury,” Pochettino said in a post-game interview via Marca. “We have important matches coming up and we have to protect him.”

“These are decisions made for the team and everyone knows we have many great players,” he added. “We have to take these decisions. Sometimes they might be viewed favorably, sometimes a little less.”

Apart from the barrage of reactions from cynics, Messi himself appeared to be not too pleased with Pochettino’s call.

In fact, a footage showed the former Barcelona star seemingly refused to give the PSG coach a handshake as he walked off the pitch.