Rio Ferdinand cannot see Lionel Messi lay down for free kick; says it's 'disrespectful'

Six-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi scored his first goal for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) during their UEFA Champions League match against Manchester City on September 29, as the Ligue 1 giants won 2-0 on the night. However, during the match, the Argentine international strangely lay down behind the ball during a free-kick.

Former Manchester United player Rio Ferdinand was unhappy with PSG's decision as he called it 'disrespectful' to give a player of Messi's stature this role. The French club perhaps told the 34-year old to lay down as, during his days at Barcelona, he successfully put the ball in the back of the net by hitting a free-kick below the opposition's wall on various occasions.

Rio Ferdinand was unhappy with Lionel Messi laying behind wall

While speaking during the UEFA Champions League telecast on BT Sport, Rio Ferdinand said, "The moment Mauricio Pochettino asked him to do that at the training ground, someone should've gone in there and said, 'No, no, no, no, no, no. This doesn’t happen to Leo Messi. No, no, no, no. You can't. It's disrespectful,' I wouldn't have it."

The former Manchester United player joked that even if the team insisted Messi to do the task, he would have asked the Argentine legend to get up, and would have laid down himself. "If I was in that team, I’d have to say, 'Listen, I'll lay down for you.' Sorry, I couldn't have him laying down like that. I can't see it. He doesn't get his kit dirty, that's not what Messi does."

PSG vs Man City: Lionel Messi scores first goal for French club

Even though Pep Guardiola's Manchester City dominated most of the match, even they could not stop Lionel Messi and PSG from winning the match. After Idrissa Gueye opened the scoring for the Ligue 1 giants in the eight-minute, Messi grabbed all the headlines by scoring his first goal for the French club in the 74th minute. Kylian Mbappe gave the Argentine international an excellent pass after which Messi made no mistake with the finish as he hit an outstanding curling shot past Ederson to help PSG win 2-0.