Lionel Messi goes to Saudi Arabia instead training

Lionel Messi's trip to Saudi Arabia on Monday grabbed a bunch of headlines, including the cover of L'Equipe from Tuesday reporting on the Argentine's taking the plane while he should have been training with the rest of the PSG first team as Christophe Galtier demanded after the loss (1-3) to Lorient on Sunday.

Just one day after the defeat against Lorient (1-3), Messi thought that the best thing to do was leave his teammates in Paris and enjoy a fancy trip to the Middle East.

Christophe Galtier and his staff had already told the players of PSG that they would only have the right to two days off (Monday and Tuesday) if they were successful and earned three points against Lorient, according to L'Equipe. Messi seems to be immune to team orders, by the looks of it.

According to the newspaper, the players were back at Camp des Loges on Monday as planned, of course with one particular and glaring absence. PSG wanted to avoid any drama from days past when players posted pictures of them enjoying their trips after losing games, which is reasonable.

Galtier spent Monday talking to their players and explaining possible ways to fix the issues the team had in the meeting with Lorient that ended up in defeat.

The media outlet revealed that Messi flew to Riyad as part of as a pre-arranged trip to Saudi Arabia for two days as part of his contract with the country's tourist office.

Even then, such a trip is hardly excusable under the current season PSG are going through as a team, with the risk of even losing the Ligue 1 title to OM when all is said and done, let alone after losing one more game just hours before the trip.

Messi had to cancel this trip after disappointing results for the club a few weeks ago, especially after the round of 16 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, revealed L'Equipe.

Messi seemingly requested a special authorization to go to the Middle East but did not have the agreement of either Galtier or any member of the club to grant him permission and modify the training schedule to fit his desires. The PSG staff ultimately accepted a departure knowing that this trip was impossible to postpone this time because the high-temperature season is coming to Saudi Arabia.

“His absence from training had been talked about for a long time, especially with some players who were surprised by such a trip," revealed the French newspaper.

Just another reason to let Messi leave this summer of free and get rid of all of the drama he brings to the club and his diminishing on-pitch returns. Bye-bye, Leo, and good luck at Al Hilal!