Substitutions are an integral and important part of football. Coaches use them when they feel like the team needs a few tweaks to get an advantage in a match, to defend a lead, or simply to replace the players who have run out of steam. And sometimes substitutions happen because of injuries.
However, not all players respond equally to being taken off . Over the years we have seen players protest against such decisions or be visibly upset when having to return to the bench and watch the game play out without their involvement. The two greatest players of their generation, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, both present a special case in this regard.
Their presence on the pitch has the potential to turn around even the most unwinnable game. This can be proven with numbers. If you were to compare odds offered by betting sites from a list of online bookmakers at Legalbet, a service focused on analysing the betting sector, they would notice that the odds on Ronaldo’s and Messi’s teams increase when their absence is confirmed.
This article will analyse how the two football legends have reacted to their substitutions over the years and how this has led to their special treatment from coaches.
Cristiano Ronaldo: Two Sides of a Coin
Before going deeper into the topic, it needs to be clarified that this article will only cover cases from the past 10 years. When Cristiano Ronaldo was a young lad still kicking it for Sporting CP, or in his first years at Manchester United, he did not have the authority to contradict the coach. When the Portuguese was being taken off back in those days, there was nothing to write articles about – the coach makes a decision, the player follows it. The same is true for Lionel Messi, as the “potential problems” only started when the two became recognized as football superstars.
For the current Al-Nassr captain, the first signs of dissent started when he was at Real Madrid. There was more than one case in which he was seen by the fans and media protesting the decision to be taken off the pitch. For example, in a league game against Las Palmas, Cristiano Ronaldo was upset with Zinedine Zidane when substituted. To mitigate the damage, the coach clarified in the post-match interview that he simply wanted to rest the forward and it had nothing to do with his performance.
The Portugal striker naturally required more rest as he aged. This became a significant problem during his second stint at Old Trafford, when Cristiano was displeased with Ralf Rangnick and then Erik ten Hag for being taken off. During a game against Aston Villa, Ragnick substituted the Portuguese, and he could be seen asking ‘Why me?’ when throwing his coat to the ground as he took to the bench.
These passionate reactions clearly come from Cristiano Ronaldo’s ambition to win every match. And the other side of the coin was the way he encouraged and led his team from the bench during the UEFA Euro 2016 final against France. The player was sad to leave the pitch with an injury, but did his best to help his team earn the gold in the end.
Lionel Messi and Silent Protest
Being the rival to Cristiano Ronaldo, it is quite poetic that the Argentine also has the opposite personality type. Lionel Messi is not the one to show his emotions publicly or make it obvious that he is upset with the substitution. But he will give you the silent treatment, sitting quietly on the bench and barely reacting, which may drive a coach nuts.
There is a famous anecdote from Pep Guardiola’s autobiography. The Catalan coach told the story of Messi once spending a full training session with a teaspoon in his mouth. And in Guardiola’s opinion, it was a reaction to him being substituted in the previous game.
Messi always had problems with being taken on, which led to tensions between him and Luis Enrique at Barcelona or Cristophe Galtier at PSG. At the same time, there were simply fewer cases in which the Argentine was taken off the pitch during a match.
Over the years, Leo was able to come to pacts with his coaches – if the plan is to give him a brother, it is better for Messi to start on the bench and then come in as a substitution. Leo explained it later in an interview that this approach allowed him to influence the final score of the game instead of being a passive spectator when the match enters crucial final minutes.
All in all, it is evident that both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are ambitious fighters. However, they have expressed their frustration with their coaches in different ways over the years.